


The Wish For Control

by Dev0ted



Series: Persona 5: The Royal Aftermath [1]
Category: Persona 5, Persona 5: The Royal - Fandom
Genre: Aftermath of P5R, Eventual Fluff, F/M, P5R Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:41:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 118,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24510076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dev0ted/pseuds/Dev0ted
Summary: Mankind’s desire to be controlled is ever present. The collective subconscious of the masses will always cling to someone, something to be their ruler, be it god, beast, or man. Despite the efforts of the Trickster, the cruel game set in play by the god of control continues on, an infinite cycle he is trapped within.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/ Yoshizawa Kasumi, Amamiya Ren/Yoshizawa Sumire, Kurus Akira/ Yoshizawa Sumire, Kurusu Akira/Yoshizawa Kasumi, Persona 5 Protagonist/Yoshizawa Sumire | Yoshizawa Kasumi
Series: Persona 5: The Royal Aftermath [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800358
Comments: 276
Kudos: 308





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I know what a lot of you must be thinking. Why is Wish updated? Why isn't Shattered being updated instead? Where the hell is Your Purpose?  
> Well, first off, I need you to back off with the questions(/s), and secondly... Well, this is a way for me to get back into this universe. The major changes occur within chapter 9 and 10(10 especially, please check it out) but I did change small bits and pieces to give this story better clarity and improve it as a whole, at least imo. I hope you all enjoy the changes I made, and this is for sure the end of Wish for Control(probably) along with the resurgence of Your Purpose(also going to be doing revising for that fic). See you all there!

“Finally, we’re back!” Akira let out a long yawn as he dropped his bag onto his bed, rubbing his eyes free of exhaustion. The bag rustled around for a while until the zipper moved up, a black cat’s head popped out from the bag.

“Freedom!” The cat exclaimed as he jumped out of the bag, finding a comfortable spot to sit at the foot of the bed. He looked around, gathering his bearings after being trapped in the bag; a normal looking room with an old TV sat on an oak desk, along with a shelving unit with multiple items Akira had received from his friends. The futon the cat sat on was a twin sized; nothing too comfortable, but Akira found it easier to sleep on compared to others due to similarities with the futon he slept on during his stay at Leblanc.

“Sorry about that Morgana, they wouldn’t let pets into the stadium,” Akira rubbed the back of his neck, a sheepish look on his face as he sat down next to the cat. We’re lucky they didn’t check my bag,” he added; there was security there due to the meet being a fairly large one, but security for unknown reasons just waved Akira in. Morgana simply shook his head, dismissing Akira’s apology; he was used to being stuck in the bag at this point. 

“It’s alright; I’m just happy that I got the zipper open just a little so I could watch Sumire!” Morgana chatted excitedly. Akira grinned at his cat companion; they had just come back from watching Sumire’s, his girlfriend, performance at the regional meet. Akira’s grin became even larger as the image of Sumire standing on the podium popped into his mind, first place medal around her neck. “But man, for usually being so quiet, you sure can yell,” Morgana poked fun at the black haired teen, snapping him out of his thoughts. Akira looked over at the cat, his grin somehow getting even larger when he felt his phone within his pocket vibrate.

“Can you really blame me? Sumire’s performance was amazing today, and she got first place at the regional meet! How could I be quiet about that?” Akira countered, pulling out his phone to check who had messaged him. Seeing that it was from Sumire, Akira immediately went to his messaging app to read the message.

_Senpai, I’m so glad you were able to make it today!_

_What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t come to see my girlfriend win the regional meet?_

_Having you(and Morgana-senpai) there gave me a huge confidence boost! I was able to give it my all because you were there, so thank you so much!_

_The pleasure is all mine(and Morgana’s)._

_So, how’s it feel?_

_It’s still not hitting me that I actually won and am going to Nationals, but remembering being on the podium helps reality set in._

Akira’s mouth curled up slightly into a smile; he knew what was coming next.

_Speaking of which, did you really have to yell out my name during the award’s ceremony? I felt like my heart was going to pop from embarrassment…_

His face turned into a full smirk; when Sumire stepped onto the podium to accept her first place medal, there was a brief loll in sound as the applause died down which Akira used to call out her name. He adores it whenever Sumire gets flustered, so when he saw her taking the podium he couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

_I was just talking about that with Morgana. Can you really blame me? You won the regional meet AND going to nationals next month, and you expect me to not do anything?_

_Also, everyone’s eyes were on me anyway._

_That’s fair I guess. You really are brave, Akira-senpai. I could have never done something like that._

_Says the one who performed in front of hundreds of people._

_That’s different! I get so focused during my routine that I forget all eyes in the stadium are on me. Also, thinking about you helps calm me down._

_Hm… I guess you’re right._

Akira let out a loud yawn as he stared at his phone, eyes wandering upwards; the date was December 17th. Letting out a long sigh, he fell down onto his bed as his phone plopped onto his chest. After the nonstop day he had, the looming feeling of dread in the back of his mind finally caught up with him. “What’s wrong, Akira?” Morgana asked concernedly, stretching out his legs as he moved towards the prone teen.

“I have exams coming up…” Akira moaned. He knew that he had good grades and the study schedule that Makoto helped him form while attending Shujin has helped him prepare for the exams, but it didn’t change the fact that he hated exams. Morgana’s face turned to one of pity before chuckling at his partners whining.

“Come on, Akira. I know you’re looking forward to winter break, so think of this as your last hurdle to get there!” The cat attempted to cheer up the black-haired teen. Akira let out another sigh as he felt his phone vibrate on his chest. He brought it back up to his face to see what Sumire texted him.

_I wish we had more time to be together. The meet took longer than expected, so when it was all finished we only had around an hour to be with each other. It’s not fair..._

Akira smirked at himself; he had been planning with Morgana for around a month to get a hotel room close to Shibuya for Winter break so he could be with his friends again. He hasn’t told anyone, not even Sojiro, because he wanted it to be a surprise for them. Just the thought of being around his friends for an extended period of time filled him with excitement, especially with Sumire. Akira smiled at the thought of the two walking around Shibuya on Christmas, going to get some food, then being in each other’s presence for the rest of the night. He shook his head free of those thoughts as he focused back on his phone; Winter break would come later.

_I know how hard it is, I miss you a lot as well. I’ll be sure to visit soon, I promise._

_That would be wonderful! Senpai, as long as you’re here with me, I feel like I can do anything!_

Akira’s smile dropped slightly at the last part; ‘That was completely out of the blue…’ he thought before shaking his head again. ‘Oh well, it’s probably nothing to worry about.’

_That should be my line, Sumi._

“Ahem…” Morgana coughed from the foot of the bed, causing Akira to look over his phone to see an annoyed look on the cat. He then checked the time on his phone; 11:15 pm. 

_Sorry Sumire, Morgana is giving me the stink eye right now. I gotta get to bed. Goodnight!_

_Goodnight Senpai. I love you!_

_I love you too Sumi_

Turning off his phone, Akira pulled his covers over him, sleep claiming him instantly.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ugh… it’s finally over…” Akira moaned as he put his bag onto his bed before sitting down next to it. Morgana’s head popped out with a meow, staring over at Akira with excitement. Akira barely noticed the excitement from the cat; over the past week he’s had terrible nightmares, and they continually ran through his head.

“So, Akira! Wanna finish packing now? We’re leaving tomorrow, right?” The cat pelted Akira with questions, jumping out of the bag. Akira closed his eyes; the stress from the nightmares along with Morgana’s excitement caused a splitting migraine in his mind. Morgana noticed and tilted his head, a slight amount of concern in his eyes. “What, are you that tired from your exams?” He asked, hoping that poking fun would lighten the mood. Akira sighed again, shaking his head.

“No… that’s not it…” he trailed off, mind beginning to race. ‘It’d be best if I told him,’ he thought, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves slightly as he waited for the migraine to die down. “I’ve been having nightmares for the past week,” Akira eventually let out, his head feeling marginally better. Morgana nodded; he remembered jolting awake due to Akira screaming out Sumire’s name the night before, but Akira just said that they would talk about it later. Apparently now was the time. “I know I’ve had some pretty rough nights since our fight with Maruki, but this past week was on a whole other level. I’ve been having nightmares about the past year; what if scenarios that would play in my mind if we failed certain missions…” Akira trailed off, his mind racing as he thought back to the nightmare he had last night. His body began to tremble slightly, horrific images flashing quickly through his mind.

“Hey, I’m here for you okay?” Morgana put a paw on Akira’s lap, looking up to see the fear in his former leader’s eyes. He could tell that the teen had been bottling this up for a while; during his exam today he had a distant look in his eyes, his hands shaking ever so slightly as he filled out his test. Akira slowly nodded his head towards Morgana, taking a deep, shaky breath before continuing.

“Last night was the worst one yet. It was just before you guys came in to save me and Akechi in Maruki’s palace, when Sumire had lost control of herself,” Akira stopped, feeling a tightness in his chest as he remembered the fear and desperation in her eyes. “But, instead of dodging her attacks and wearing her out, she… killed me. I was outside of my body, so I saw the immediate horror in her eyes.” Akira looked down at the ground as he recalled what happened next, where Maruki had Cendrillon cut down the rest of the thieves in front of Sumire, then brainwashing her into a perfect life as her sister. His body began to shake again, multiple emotions swirling around in his head; anger at Maruki, disappointment in his abilities, fear for Sumire who had worked so hard to live her life as herself. 

“Akira…” Morgana stared down; he had never seen Akira like this before. He’d seen him pissed off, even tear up a few times, but never had he seen this level of anguish on his partner’s face. He looked back up, Akira not meeting his eyes. “Hey, you have to know those were just nightmares. The real Sumire is here in the real world we all fought so hard to live in,” Morgana assured Akira. Akira looked over at Morgana and stared for a second before nodding, giving a small smile to the cat as he wiped the tears forming in his eyes.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Akira said as he slowly stood up from his bed, looking over at his phone. “Let’s stop with all this depressing stuff and finish packing, yeah?” Akira kept his smile on his face as he went over to his closet, picking out some more clothes to wear for the weekend. Morgana broke out into a smile as well as he jumped off the bed and headed for Akira’s bathroom where he kept all of his toiletries. After around thirty minutes of packing, the duo were all finished packing and headed towards the station. 

The station wasn’t too far away from Akira’s parent’s house, so it barely took them any time. As he was walking, Akira noticed strange stares from people around him along with some seemingly going out of their way to avoid him. Akira frowned; it was a similar feeling when he walked around Shujin, but instead of fear causing them to avoid him the look in their eyes was akin to… reverence? Akira shook his head as he boarded the train to Shibuya.

“Finally, we can rest for a while!” Akira let out as he plopped down onto the seat with Morgana right next to him. He had paid the pet fare fee, so the cat was able to sit freely out of Akira’s bag. Morgana turned around in his seat, trying to find a comfortable position before curling up into a ball. Akira grinned at his companion, the cat’s eyes drooping from exhaustion.

“I’ll take you up on resting…” Morgana yawned, falling asleep nearly instantly. Akira’s grin at the black cat quickly turned to a confused look as he looked around the train car. “Huh?” Akira muttered under his breath; the train car was completely empty besides him and Morgana. Now that he thought about it more, everyone boarding the train did so on different cars. Akira shook his head as he took out his phone, eyes wandering up towards the time. It was December 23rd, 1:15 p.m. 

“The 23rd, huh?” Akira muttered to himself, trying not to disturb the sleeping cat next to him. He shook his head, but the unwanted memory remained of the thieves fighting against Yaldabaoth. The fight was long and hard-fought, and Akira had awakened to Satanael at the end of the fight, supposedly ending the cruel game set in play by the false god. However, that wasn’t the case as Maruki gained the masses’ support indirectly from the thieves and continued the game into the next year.

Pinching his nose, Akira took a deep breath and cleared his mind. A loud snore came from beside him, causing him to look down to see Morgana sprawled on the seat next to him. He smirked at the cat before yawning as well. ‘I could use a nap myself…’ he thought, eyelids falling down. Within a minute Akira was soundly asleep.

_Tri…ster_

‘What was that?’ Akira shot awake, his eyes darting around frantically. He wasn’t in the train anymore and Morgana was nowhere to be seen; instead, he was in Leblanc, the place he called home last year during his time as “Joker”, his codename as the leader of the Phantom Thieves. “Why am I back here?” Akira rose from the booth and felt soft fabric brush against his chest. He looked down at himself, and he noticed that he was garbed in a pure white robe with a magnificent gold and white suit underneath it.

‘What the hell?’ Akira grabbed his head; his body felt lethargic. ‘The last time this happened was on New Years, when I followed a blue butterf—’ Akira’s thoughts were cut short by the same blue butterfly floating in front of him, which meant one thing. ‘Shit, is this really happening now? Why?’ Akira’s internal questions were met with the gentle beating of the butterfly’s wings. As the butterfly flew up towards the attic, Akira decided it was best to follow it. As he scuffed his feet while moving towards the staircase leading up to his previous room, he heard the same voice from earlier, only louder and clear this time:

_“Trickster”_

Akira immediately knew whose voice that was, for only two beings called him that, and because it was a female’s voice, it had to be Lavenza. As Akira followed the blue butterfly, he took a look around the store; everything looked exactly the same. He continued to shuffle his feet as he began climbing the stairs, feeling an unease growing stronger within him. Just as he was about to reach the platform, Akira’s vision blacked out, with final words coming from Lavenza’s voice:

_“Trickster, you… no, the world itself, is in danger yet again. The public is growing restless once more; be prepared and stay alert. Please, you must fight any strange desire if you wish to keep this world free from control.”_

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Akira’s eyes shot open. Morgana, who was already awake, looked over up at him from the seat next to him.

“Hey, you okay? Nightmares again?” Morgana asked with concern in his eyes. Akira looked around at his surroundings, finding himself back in the train which confirmed to him that it was a dream. The warning from Lavenza still echoed in his mind, but he simply shook his head, figuring it best to not worry his cat companion at least for the time being.

“Okay, good. You seemed to be pretty distressed, so you had me worried there. Just let me know if something’s bothering you, okay?” his cat companion replied before staring at the phone in Akira’s hand. “By the way, your phone was buzzing while you were still asleep. Sounds like a lot of people want to talk to you.” Akira pulled up his phone to his face as Morgana curled back up, muttering “I’m gonna lay down for a little bit longer. Let me know if we’re doing anything today.”

Akira nodded as Morgana’s eyes closed. Before he looked at his message app he saw that the time was 3:25 pm; only around an hour left before they reached Tokyo. Akira tapped the messaging app, eyes widening at the amount of messages he got.

‘Six messages? Really?’ Akira thought to himself, getting an uneasy feeling in his gut. He shook his head, opening up the first one he saw; it was from Makoto.

_Akira, how are you doing? I’ve been going through some issues recently pertaining to university, and, while trying to figure out what was happening, I realized it. I need you to help me. Without your incredible insight, I cannot move forward in life. I need your help to get through university. Please respond as soon as you can._

Akira started getting concerned. He knew Makoto, and knew that that wasn’t Makoto talking. He scrolled through the messages from his teammates, all of them acting… differently.

Yusuke:

_Akira! I’ve had an epiphany! While my art has been phenomenal as of late, I have realized something missing within my soul, preventing my art from being elevated even further! It is you, Akira! My shining light in the darkness, please come back so that my mind can be at peace and I can achieve true beauty!_

Ann:

_Hey Akira, I just thought of something. I was talking with Shiho the other day about how my modelling is going, and she mentioned how strong I had gotten. It felt incredible, hearing that coming from her, but it only made me realize how much you helped me get to this point. As an eternal member of my fanclub, I demand you come to my next photoshoot!_

Haru:

_Leader! I was making some coffee with Boss last night for practice when my chest started to hurt. I… miss you dearly. Please, I need you back here to help me! I can’t make the best cup of coffee without you!_

Futaba:

_Akira! Master Futaba requires her special item! High school is proving to be too high levelled, so I demand you come back to Yongen immediately! I’ve talked it over with Sojiro and, as long as you’re okay with it, you can live in the attic again at Leblanc!_

“Dammit Futaba…” Akira cursed under his breath; it feels like all his friends reverted back to how they were before they fought Maruki, only now more needy and pushy.

Akira sighed, noticing a notification that he received a message from Ryuji.

_Yo Akira! How’re you doing man? Exams are all done (please don’t ask about them…), so I was wondering if you wanna hang out for a bit. I’m heading down to Tokyo right now for Winter break, so if you’re in the area give me a call!_

Akira let out another sigh, this time in relief, but quickly frowned at his phone. Why was Ryuji the only one acting normally? He pushed those thoughts back as he looked at the final message that he had received was from Sumire; he felt a pit drop in his stomach as he read her message, which only said:

_Please call me…_

The uneasy feeling in his gut grew stronger; he knew just by that one text that she was going through a breakdown, which had only happened once before. He was lucky that he was there with her when it happened on the second to last day of golden week this year. She started crying, clutching at his clothes, sobbing as she begged him not to leave.

A lot of time had passed since then, and Akira knew how strong Sumire had become, so seeing this text filled him with dread. Looking around the empty train car to reassure him no one would eavesdrop, he went into his phone app, finding Sumire’s name on his phone and called her immediately. His phone barely rang until he heard her voice.

“Sen-Senpai?” Her voice sounded faint and timid, akin to when she became herself again after a year of being her dead sister Kasumi.

“Sumire, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” Akira asked, voice full of concern.

“N…no, I’m not…” Sumire’s voice confirmed his suspicions, trailing off into silence. His chest tightened up; he could hear how pained her voice was and he despised hearing her like this.

“I’m here for you Sumi; you can tell me what’s going on,” Akira spoke softly, keeping his nerves out of his voice; he needed to be calm for her sake.

“I-I know I’m ju-just being selfish, b-bu-but I can’t live without you, Senpai,” Sumire continued, her words deepening his anxiety. “Ple-please move back here. I-I know this is pro-probably too big of a favor, but you are m-my light in this world. My tr-true love. My ki-kin-king,” Sumire finished. Akira sat completely still, stunned at the words that came from Sumire. A headache took form in the back of his head, but he ignored it as his mind raced as he tried to come up with a response. ‘Calm down,’ Akira thought, taking a deep breath as he forced his brain to slow down.

“Sumi, you are my world, my light. I love you more than anything else,” Akira reassured Sumire, speaking straight from his heart. “Any opportunity to be with you I will gladly take. However, we both have to continue moving forward with our lives, and our lives have us separated right now. I hope you can understand,” Akira finished.

“N-n-no! I-I can’t handle being away from you for even a second longer. I-if you won’t move back h-here, then I’ll move in with y-you.” Sumire stuttered. ‘Shit, she’s serious about this,’ Akira thought to himself. He had to act fast, because he could hear shuffling sounds through his phone. ‘Is she packing right now?’ Akira thought to himself, panic setting in.

“Hey, don’t say that. What about your parents? I couldn’t stand making them worry,” Akira spoke as calmly as he could, but the sound of Sumire shuffling around continued. Akira let out a sigh; ‘I need to tell her or this is going to only get worse,’ ran through Akira’s mind as he spoke back up. “Hey, I’m coming back for Winter Break, so there’s no need to come move in wit-” Akira got out before Sumire cut him off with a jubilant cry.

“Really?! Thank you so much Akira-senpai! I’ve already talked with Boss, and he said that he has a room already for you!” She happily exclaimed, the sounds of her packing stopping altogether.

Akira sat in silence, shocked; ‘Sumire also talked with Sojiro?!’ ran through his head, before returning his attention to Sumire.

“I’m so, so happy right now! Call me when you get here! I want to be by your side as soon as possible!” Sumire practically shouted in absolute glee, which only caused Akira’s sense of unease to grow.

“Sumire, wait!” Akira pleaded, but Sumire had already hung up. Akira let out a large groan, with Morgana starting to stir slightly from his nap.

‘Damn it, this is bad. What’s up with everyone? Everyone except Ryuji…That’s it!’ Akira, phone still in hand, found Ryuji’s name and called him.

“What’s up man?” Ryuji answered. The uneasy feeling in Akira’s chest died down a little bit at the sound of Ryuji’s voice.

“Hey, Sumire forced me to play my hand: I’m gonna be staying in Tokyo for Winter Break at Leblanc, so it’ll be easier for us to hang out,” Akira responded, testing to see how Ryuji would react.

“That’s awesome man! Like I said earlier, I’m gonna be in Tokyo for Winter Break, so call me whenever you want to chill. I’ll be staying in a hotel room for the week, which kinda blows ‘cause it's pretty far off from Shibuya…” Ryuji trailed off.

“You could always sleep on the couch upstairs,” Akira suggested. “I mean, Yusuke did it so it can’t be too bad.”

“Are you kidding? This is Yusuke we’re talking about, Akira. I feel like he would sleep on a bed of nails for ‘the sake of art’,” Ryuji mimicked Yusuke’s voice at the end, causing both of the teens to break into chuckles. Relief rushed over Akira: Ryuji was all good from what it seemed. He looked over at Morgana, who was curled up in his bag beside him; ‘So does the cat,’ he thought, before Ryuji broke him out of his thoughts. “So, was that all you wanted to talk about?” Ryuji asked. 

Akira pondered for a second if he should tell him about the strange messages from the rest of the group along with the dream he just had. He inwardly sighed; it would be good to have the two caught up, but he still wasn’t sure what the hell was going on. “There’s been something else on my mind, but I want to talk about it later today,” Akira explained. “I’m actually already on a train ride heading towards Shibuya right now, so I have around an hour until I get there. Wanna meet at Leblanc?”

“You’re that close? I’m actually already in my hotel room, so I’ll meet you and Morgana at around… 5:00? Does that work for you?” Ryuji questioned.

“Sounds good to me man,” Akira responded, nodding his head despite the fact Ryuji couldn’t see it.

“Alright, I’ll see you then Akira!” Ryuji exclaimed as he hung up, leaving Akira with his thoughts once again. ‘I have to figure out what’s going on,’ Akira’s mind raced as he stared at Morgana, who had since woken up and seemingly overheard Akira’s conversation. 

“Are you meeting up with someone?” The cat yawned, stretching his front paws in front of him. Akira nodded, putting his phone back into his pocket.

“Yeah, we’re meeting up with Ryuji in around an hour. Apparently he’s also coming back for Winter break,” Akira said nonchalantly. “I have something to talk with him about.” 

“That’s fine. I can leave you two b-” Morgana began before Akira cut him off.

“I also need you to be there as well,” Akira looked down at the surprised look on the cat, forcing a serious look into his eyes. Morgana looked confusedly at his companion for a few seconds before nodding; now clearly wasn’t the time to ask questions. “Alright; I should probably let Sojiro know we’re coming. Apparently both Sumire and Futaba asked for me to stay with him, so instead of going to the hotel we’re going straight there.” 

Morgana’s face scrunched up in confusion; the two asked him that? He wanted to ask Akira so many questions, but Akira had already taken his phone back out of his pocket and called Sojiro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, this is my first fic ever, so I hope you enjoy! Any and all critique is greatly appreciated. This first chapter was originally broken up into multiple chapters, but I didn't like how it flowed, so instead I put in line breaks.  
> Anyways, I've actually wrote out a rough draft of the story before posting this which I need to revise before posting, so I'll try and get more chapters out ASAP. Have a good day, and I hope too see you in the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

“Ugh, do we really have to meet with Ryuji right now?” Morgana complained from Akira’s bag, voice slightly muffled from the zipper being closed. “I’m so tired, can’t we just meet with him tomorrow?” Morgana finished saying, popping his head out of the bag and lookedover at Akira. The teen slowly shook his head as the two got off the empty train, now in Yongen-Jaya heading towards Leblanc. Since he walked from his living space to this station hundreds of times last year, Akira’s body was on autopilot, which allowed him to eavesdrop on some clusters of people looking his way.

“ _Hey, that’s him isn’t it?”_

_“Yeah; he’s like a hometown hero around here!”_

_“He’s pretty hot as well… oh well, I heard he’s already taken.”_

Akira scrunched up his face at the second comment; ‘hometown hero’? ‘Shit, did I do something? There’s no way they would know that I’m a phantom thief… right?’ Akira thought to himself, the feeling of unease he felt earlier becoming much worse as a giant knot in his stomach formed. Gritting his teeth, Akira fought back the urge to grab his stomach as he wiped away the sweat on his forehead. 

_You… cho… ne_

Akira’s eyes widened as he heard an ethereal voice echo around him, wincing in pain from a sudden splitting headache. “What the hell…” Akira breathed out as he forced himself to continue walking.

“Hey Akira…” Morgana’s head was next to Akira’s, paws on his shoulders as he stared at the black-haired teen. “Are you okay? You don’t look so hot right now.” 

“I… I don’t know” Akira muttered truthfully as he wiped his brow free of the sweat droplets, trying his best to ignore his headache. 

“I know I was just complaining earlier, but maybe we shouldn’t meet with Ryuji to-” Before Morgana could finish, Akira increased his pace cutting Morgana off.

“We need to talk today. I don’t know what’s going on, but I know that it can’t wait,” Akira said, giving Morgana a serious look. Morgana stared back at his partner before nodding, nowhere near understanding the situation but accepted that Akira would tell him later. 

Five minutes of walking passed, the state Akira was in staying stable as the two found themselves in front of their old living space last year. Looking inside, Akira could see the outline of a blonde haired teen with a bright red shirt sitting at the bar. No one else was in the cafe that Akira could see, including Sojiro. “Right, Sojiro said that he would leave the cafe to me and Ryuji to talk…” Akira muttered under his breath, wiping away newly formed sweat as he grabbed the handle and pulled the door open.

Ryuji excitedly turned around in his seat at the jingle of the bells over the door, his smile instantly dropping into a look of concern as he saw the sweat on Akira’s forehead along with the distressed look on his face. “Akira? What’s wrong, man?” Ryuji asked, already out of his seat and moving towards Akira. The teen in question took deliberate steps forward, concentrating on his lower half to make sure he wouldn’t trip and fall. Despite his efforts, Akira’s legs began to give out, causing him to stumble forward.

“Woah!” Ryuji yelped as he barely caught Akira from hitting the ground, with Morgana quickly jumping out of the bag onto the nearest table. “Dude, what the hell’s going on?!” Ryuji panicked as he helped Akira into the booth he was previously sitting in. Sweat was now dripping off Akira’s face and onto the table, leaving a puddle of sweat as Akira took raspy breaths.

“Akira! Tell us what’s wrong!” Morgana demanded, concerned about Akira’s quickly deteriorating health. Taking a few deep breaths, Akira focused inward; whatever was wrong with him it wasn’t anything natural.

“I… I’ve been having really bad nightmares… of our time as phantom thieves… of our missions failing… of everyone dying because of me...” Akira stammered out between breaths, beginning to lose feeling in his left hand. “I also had a dream… on the train ride here… warning me about a “strange desi”-” Akira cut himself off as his gaze fell down onto his numb hand. The other two followed his gaze and let out gasps of surprise.

“Dude… why do you have a white glove on your hand?!” Ryuji shouted, fear cracking through his voice. Akira’s left hand was completely covered by a pristine white glove, sitting on the table in front of them. Akira shook his head, mind racing as he attempted to figure out what the hell was going on. The glove wouldn't budge as he tried taking it off, his hand quickly becoming numb.

 _“Humanity has designated you as their savior, the chosen one; now, take your rightful_ _place above them where you can bring peace to all of the world!”_ A voice boomed in Akira’s mind, causing him to put his right hand to his head in pain.

“Argh!” Akira let out; it felt as if someone put both their hands into his head and was trying to rip his brain apart. The world around him began to swirl, a blinding light flaring up within his mind’s eye as a deafening ringing sound played within both his ears.

_Pe...ce i… w...t y...u, the ma...es, de...re..._

‘What the hell?’ Akira’s mind was going a million miles an hour, until it landed on the only possibility for what was happening. His eyes widened in horror at the realization before another wave of pain rushed over him.

“The… Metaverse…” Akira struggled to say as the other two huddled around him. They both leaned in further, not fully catching what he said.

“What? Akira, stay with us here!” Morgana yelled as he saw the teen’s eyes fighting to stay open. 

“The… Metaverse is back…” Akira leaned back in his seat, gritting his teeth as immense pain shot through his chest. Ryuji and Morgana stared blankly at their distressed former leader, not fully understanding what he said. Akira’s right hand went into his pocket and procured his phone. “Need… to call… Maruki…” he managed to say as he shakily made his way to his phone app.

“Wha… Maruki?!” Ryuji exclaimed. “Why hi-”

“Because I need him,” Akira growled through the pain spreading throughout his body. He found Maruki’s number and immediately hit call, putting the phone up to his ear as his former counselor answered on the other end.

“Kurusu-kun! What’s u-” Maruki began, his voice sounding jovial as usual.

“Come to Leblanc. Please…” Akira cut off Maruki, each word taking immense energy. Silence filled the call, with Ryuji and Morgana staring intently at Akira.

“...I’m nearby. I’ll be there in a minute, alright? Just hold out for me,” Maruki responded, hanging up as there was nothing else to say. Akira’s right hand fell to the table, the teen closing his eyes as he felt the intense gaze from the other two in the cafe.

“The will of the people... came back…” Akira breathed out; he was able to stabilize his body somewhat by focusing inward, easing the pain in his chest slightly. Ryuji and Morgana were stunned at his words before Morgana nodded his head slightly.

“Akechi’s words…” Morgana muttered, remembering what Akechi had said during the thieves' meeting with Lady Lavenza.

_“Now, the Phantom Thieves are the ones who gained the masses’ support after defeating this so-called God of Control… So it would follow that the masses would turn to the Phantom Thieves next as their savior.”_

“You’re kidding me… the will of the masses took root inside of you, Akira!?” Morgana yelled out, a stunned Ryuji and a solemn Akira looking over at him. Ryuji looked back and forth between the two, not believing his ears.

“You’re shittin me, right?” Ryuji breathed out. He looked over at Akira; he saw the pain he was in, and the thought of their actions being the cause of it pissed him off. Akira nodded his head slightly at Morgana, sweat dripping from his face onto the table. “But that’s impossible! We already beat that fake god AND Maruki! And besides, why is shit only happening to Akira if what Akechi said was right?” Ryuji shot out his questions, feeling overwhelmed by the entire situation.

“It’s because we chose him, like we chose Maruki earlier this year…” Morgana looked over at Akira, who nodded again. 

“Like hell I did that!” Ryuji screamed at Morgana, the fear for his best friend quickly turning to rage. 

“Not… not you two… the others…” Akira sputtered out, having to catch his breath afterwards. Scenes of his friends, living in their perfect reality crafted by Maruki shot through Akira’s head, his face scrunching up in frustration at the memories.

“The others?” Ryuji questioned before his eyes filled with realization; he remembered Ann and Yusuke acting weird when he tried contacting them after exams were done, saying they only wanted to hang out with Akira. “Shit, the others… Why are Morgana and I the only two not affected by this then?” Ryuji asked. Akira opened his mouth to respond, but Morgana stepped in for the noticeably exhausted teen.

“If I had to take a guess, it’s due to us seeing him as a teammate, as an equal. The other’s have indebted themselves a lot to Akira, which has probably made their unconscious think of him as ‘greater’,” Morgana theorized, getting another nod from Akira. Just as Ryuji was about to retort, the door to Leblanc opened, causing the two to shoot their heads over at the door.

“Hey guys, is Akira he- Oh my god!” Maruki greeted before seeing the state Akira was in, rushing over to his side. “What happened here? Why did you ask for me to come here, Akira?” The former counselor’s eyes ran up and down Akira’s body before settling on his left hand, covered in white. Then everything connected in his mind; it resembled so much of his metaverse outfit when he had fought for his reality against Akira and the thieves.

“...” Morgana and Ryuji stared at the man they had fought earlier this year, the one trying to force another reality onto them. They knew that Maruki had turned over a new leaf, but a large part of them still didn’t trust him.

“The metaverse… has returned…” Akira gasped for air, turning his head towards Maruki. The sight of the young man terrified the counselor turned taxi driver; his face was pale with a pained expression, buckets of sweat dripping onto the table. Maruki’s eyes widened in shock as he fully realized what Akira had just said.

“The metaverse?” Maruki questioned before shaking his head; those questions could come later. “No, we can’t focus on the specifics. I’m assuming you called me here due to Azathoth’s power?” Maruki prodded Akira, receiving a weak nod from the black haired teen. Maruki straightened his back as he stared down at Akira. “If that’s the case, tell me what you need me to do. I’m not entirely sure if my powers are back or, if they are, how, but I’ll do everything in my power to help you.”

Akira slowly nodded his head as he struggled to move his legs out from under the table; they felt like they were filled with sand. Everyone eyed him nervously as he slowly got to his feet, his whole body shaking in pain. “Ryuji… Morgana… I need you two to talk with the others… get them out of… whatever spell they’re under,” Akira said as he looked down at the ground, trying to steady himself. Ryuji got out of his seat to protest, with Maruki putting his arm around Akira to steady him.

“But what about y-” Ryuji started, but Akira’s eyes shot up to meet his; he didn’t need to say anything for Ryuji to fully understand how serious he was being. Ryuji stared at his best friend before slowly nodding. “I understand, Akira. I promise you we’ll get the others outta this shit,” the blonde said as he approached his former leader and brought him in for a hug, Maruki withdrawing his arm for the two. “Just… make sure you’re safe doing whatever you’re gonna do, okay?” Ryuji’s voice was full of concern; concern for Akira, how he was taking everything. Morgana jumped from the table onto Ryuji’s shoulder, putting his front paws onto Akira’s head.

“Yeah! Leave everyone to us, alright?” Morgana attempted to reassure Akira. The black haired teen stared out in front of him, feeling tears well up in his eyes as he felt the warmth emanating from Ryuji along the soft paws of Morgana on his head; the Chariot and Magician Arcana pulsated deep within himself with an even greater power than before. This power coursed through him, and he felt his body loosen up slightly. “Thank you… you two being here means the world to me…” Akira said, breaking from the hug. Ryuji stared at his best friend, noticing Akira’s watery eyes, and simply nodded his head.

“C’mon Morgana, we got a job to do,” he said as he grabbed his bag on the table.

“Hold up Ryuji!” Morgana yelped as he jumped off of his shoulder onto the table. He then hurriedly scampered into Ryuji’s bag, similar to how he positioned himself in Akira’s. “Alright, NOW I’m ready!” Morgana exclaimed. Ryuji rolled his eyes at the cat, but just accepted his fate as he picked up the cat bag. With one final, determined look at Akira, the two left Leblanc heading towards the nearest station.

Akira turned to Maruki, slowly wiping away his tears. “I should probably let you know what I want you to do, Doc,” Akira said, his voice still quivering but he had more control over it than before. Maruki silently stared at the teen, allowing Akira to collect his thoughts on what exactly he needed from Maruki.

“I need you to send me into deep sleep,” Akira eventually said, right hand clutching his left. Maruki’s eyes widened at the request.

“Are… are you sure?” Maruki asked before shaking his head, not letting Akira respond. “What a silly question. Let me rephrase it: are you sure that I am able to do it?” Since their fight earlier that year, Maruki’s powers had disappeared. Even if he wanted to actualize someone’s wishes into reality, the metaverse was no more, which in turn meant that his powers were gone as well.

“Did you not believe me earlier, Doc? Just look within yourself,” Akira smirked at his old counselor despite the situation he was in. Maruki did just that and let out a surprised gasp; he felt Azathoth deep within himself, waiting for it’s actualization powers to be used again.

“So… it is how you say…” Maruki muttered to himself, staring at Akira’s left hand. “I know how you will react to this question, but wouldn’t it be simpler for me to remove the will of the masses altogether?”

Akira shook his head, exactly the response Maruki anticipated. “It’s not that simple. Do you remember what you said to me at the top of your palace? How our powers were on different levels?” Akira asked the doctor; Maruki nodded as Akira continued on, “Well, the roles are reversed now. And besides, even if you could simply make the will of the people disappear,” Akira stopped to flash a charming smile despite how exhausted he was, “that’s just not how I do things.”

Maruki chuckled to himself; he knew the teen’s answer before even asking, but hearing the words come from the one who saved him, the one that helped him move on from his past, gave him immense comfort in what he was about to do. “Alright, I think I get the gist of your situation. Where do you want to do this?” Maruki asked, again already knowing the answer to his question.

Akira simply pointed upwards with his right hand. “It’ll be best if we do it in the attic; my friends will know where to find me and no one should see me up there,” Akira said, his eyes beginning to burn with determination. Again, deep within him the Councillor Arcana began to pulsate with power, igniting Akira’s will to stand up against the masses’ wishes once again. However, as the two made their way upstairs, Akira felt the will of the masses grow more and more restless within him, quickly overshadowing the three strengthened Arcana within him.

“Urgh!” Akira stumbled as the two reached the attic, Maruki quickly catching him in his arms. 

“Akira!” Maruki looked down at the teen’s face; it still held the determined look from earlier, but in Akira’s dark eyes was… specks of white? Maruki shook his head; Akira was in immediate danger and he needed to act fast. “Here, let’s put you on your bed,”he finished, practically dragging Akira to the futon which already had sheets on it. Maruki, with one final push, laid Akira down onto the bed. Closing his eyes, Maruki knelt down beside the distressed teen and felt his power surge within him. Maruki’s eyes shot open as he focused on Akira’s cognition; a person’s inner self, as he found himself calling it after awakening to Azathoth’s full power. ‘Got it!’ Maruki thought as he surged all of his power into Akira’s subconscious, sending the black-haired teen into his own subconscious.

“It’s up to you now, young man,” Maruki spoke softly at the now sleeping teen, still kneeling beside him. After taking another look at Akira, Maruki silently got up and went downstairs into the empty cafe. As he walked towards the door, he noticed a group of people outside the door. Face scrunched up in confusion, Maruki pushed open the door, the eyes of Akira’s confidants landing onto him.

“Huh? Dr. Maruki?” A familiar female’s voice called from Maruki’s left. As the former counselor turned his head, he saw his former peer from Shujin Academy: Sadayo Kawakami. Her eyes were full of confusion as she stared at him before shaking her head, focusing her gaze onto Maruki. “What are you doing here? Did you also come to see Kurusu-kun?”

“Also?” Maruki blurted out, becoming even more confused. He scanned the group of people, immediately recognizing only one other person beside Kawakami : Toranosuke Yoshida, one of the newest members of the Diet from last year’s election. Everyone else he didn’t recognize, but by what Kawakami said he figured that they were Akira’s friends. 

“Well mister? Did you see Kurusu-kun in there?” A young boy in a red ‘Get Smoked’ hat, clearly still in elementary school, asked Maruki. Everyone looked intently at Maruki; he figured that if they were Akira’s friends they were good people, but the look in their eyes unsettled him. It was barely detectable but he noticed flashes of white within their irises, the same he saw in Akira’s just a few minutes earlier. ‘They must be under the same spell Akira’s friends are under as well,’ Maruki thought to himself, feeling shivers run down his spine from all their eyes being on him. ‘I have to make something up.’

“Sorry, but I was just passing by and wanted some coffee from Boss,” Maruki made up on the spot. “He said that he needed to get some groceries and left the shop, allowing me to finish my cup of coffee. I’m amazed that he put that amount of trust in me,” Maruki chuckled lightly, hoping that these people would buy his lie.

“Oh… so Akira-kun really isn’t here? I wanted to tell him about my latest match,” A teenaged girl with long black hair asked Maruki, a downcast look in her eyes. ‘Wait, isn’t she that shogi player that was caught up in a scandal by her mom?’ Maruki questioned himself, making sure that his face stayed neutral. 

“I’m afraid so…” Maruki copied the downcast look; he knew just how bad of an actor he was so he was hoping that they wouldn’t see through his facade. 

“Are you serious? I come all the over here in the hopes to see Kurusu-kun, and nothing?” A woman with short, black hair wearing a black shirt, jeans along with a camera around her neck asked towards no one before turning towards another adult woman standing next to her. “Hey, didn’t you say that your fortune readings predicted that Akira would be back?” The other woman, a long blonde haired woman wearing a pink blouse over a dark blue long sleeve shirt, recoiled from the sudden question.

“We-well, that’s what they told me!” She shot back. “Although, Kurusu-kun did teach me that fate can be changed… but I really hoped this was concrete!” she finished the thought with her hand to her chin in thought. ‘So she’s some kind of fortune teller?’ Maruki thought before looking at the first woman. ‘And is she a journalist?’ He snapped back to reality as a gruff looking man along with a woman wearing goth clothing took a step forward; the man had a long trench coat on with a plain looking hat with yellow headphones around his head while the woman wore a white lab coat with ripped jeans on.

“Hey, you ain’t lying to us, right?” The man spoke in a serious tone. Maruki barely managed to keep a straight face, staring directly into the man’s eyes as he nodded his head. 

“I haven’t seen Kurusu-kun in over a year nor has he let me know of any of his plans,” Maruki made up, his hands getting sweaty from the stressful encounter. The gruff man stared at Maruki for a few seconds before letting out a sigh, nodding his head as well.

“Hm, it doesn’t seem like you’re lying to us,” the woman said, a dejected look crossing her face as she also took a step back. As they gave Maruki some space, a familiar blue-haired boy ran directly towards Maruki from the alleyway to the left of Leblanc.

“I overhead the last part of the conversation. Akira really isn’t here?” the boy huffed as he stopped just shy of running into Maruki, head down but eyes staring up into Maruki’s.

“Mishima?” Maruki’s face scrunched up before he remembered the two were in the same class. He let out a sigh, feeling comfortable in his lie that he’d woven. “As I’ve been telling them all, I haven’t seen Akira since last year. In fact, I was just stopping by to get coffee when Sojiro had to lea-”

“Dr. Maruki?” Another familiar voice rang out from Maruki’s right, causing him to look wildly over at Sojiro to his right holding multiple bags of groceries. “Why are you he-” Sojiro began before noticing the serious look in Maruki’s eyes, the other people ignoring the look completely. 

“Sakura-san, is it true that Kurusu-kun isn’t here?” Yoshida asked the owner of the store; he had been there a couple of times after Akira left Tokyo, becoming somewhat close with Sojiro. Maruki’s eyes flashed a somehow more serious look, his mind screaming at Sojiro to lie to them.

“I haven’t seen the kid since the beginning of this year,” Sojiro shrugged. Maruki’s body loosened up a bit, no one noticing except for Sojiro. “He’s on Winter break now, but the kid said that he was staying in his hometown… what a shame too, would’ve loved to have him help during the holidays,” Sojiro looked down at the ground, a sincere look of disappointment plastered on his face. The rest of the group donned a similar face when Maruki heard a third set of footsteps coming towards the group.

“Sakura-san? What are all these people doing here?” A female’s voice rang out over the group, causing everyone to turn to look. A red-eyed, silver haired beautiful woman stood right behind Sojiro, a calm look on her face as she waited for her answer.

“Hello Niijima-san. As I was coming back here I ran into these people, all friend’s of Akira’s I think because they’re looking for him. That or he made a lot of enemies,” Sojiro smirked, letting a low chuckle to signify he was joking. The group of people still had saddened expressions when suddenly they all began to disperse until it was just the three of them there.

“Wha-?” The woman called Niijima stuttered, confusion running across her face. Sojiro also had the same confused look, moving his gaze towards Akira’s former counselor. 

“Hey, you seem to know what’s going on,” he said, getting Maruki’s attention. “I could see the look in your eyes earlier; the kid’s in trouble again, isn’t he?” Sojiro asked. Maruki’s eyes widened; ‘This man is sharp,’ he thought to himself before turning his attention back to Sojiro. “Here, you two seem to be unaffected by whatever those people were going through, so I’ll tell you two everything I know, which isn’t much,” Maruki finished, turning back to the door as he walked back inside. The two adults closely aligned with the phantom thieves stared at each other before entering into Leblanc, Sojiro making sure the sign read “Closed” so no one would interrupt them. 

Maruki turned around to face Sojiro and Niijima, unsure of how to start explaining the situation. “So, what the hell’s going on?” Sojiro demanded. 

“To be completely honest, I’m not entirely sure…” Maruki trailed off. Before Sojiro could respond, he continued, “but Akira is currently in danger from the Will of the Masses.”

“Wait, the Will of the Masses?” Niijima entered the conversation, causing Maruki to turn to her. “Didn’t the phantom thieves finish everything last year?” She finished. Sojiro’s face wrinkled up into a deep frown, staring intently at Maruki.

“Also, how do you know about that?” Sojiro asked. Maruki looked down; there wasn’t time to fully explain everything.

“It’s a very long story, but just know that Akira helped me get my life back on track earlier this year,” Maruki explained, lifting his head to look at the other two adults in front of him. The two seemed to internally debate whether or not to believe Maruki until Niijima nodded her head.

“Alright, I’ll choose to believe you for now. Akira has helped so many people that it would make sense that there would be one more person,” Niijima said, a small chuckle escaping her mouth. After seeing Niijima accept Maruki, Sojiro’s body eased up slightly before tensing up once again.

“Wait, where’s the kid? I was told that him and Ryuji were meeting here, but neither of them are here…” Sojiro trailed off, looking over at the staircase up to the attic. Without thinking, Sojiro ran towards and up the stairs. Maruki sighed as he turned to follow Sojiro, turning his head towards Niijima.

“We should go too, Niijima,” Maruki beckoned over with his head.

“Alright, lead the way. Also, you can call me Sae,” Sae responded with a small smile, Maruki giving a small nod and a smile in return. The two followed Sojiro upstairs and found the older man kneeled over Akira. Sae rushed over next to Sojiro while Maruki calmly walked behind them.

“What happened here?” Sojiro spun around, nearly roaring into Maruki’s face as rage built within him.

“He asked for me to do this. We have… similar powers, but I can rewrite people’s cognition,” Maruki responded truthfully, immediately holding up his right hand as both Sojiro and Sae opened their mouths to speak. “It’s way too complicated to fully explain; just know that I have no more intentions of interfering any further,” Maruki added on. 

“That still doesn’t explain those people out front,” Sae said, eliciting a sigh from Maruki.

“From what I gathered, they all think of Akira as some sort of royalty; I’m not sure what would happen if they were to see him like this,” Maruki responded, turning his attention to Sojiro. “Sakura-san, I already know the answer to this, but would you watch over Akira? Make sure no one else sees him besides his friends when they inevitably come here, alright?” Maruki asked the cafe owner.

“Of course! Like I was going to do anything else with him like this!” Sojiro responded with slight indignation. His fatherly instincts kicked in the moment he saw Akira on the bed with a distressed look on his face as his skin glistened with sweat.

“Let me help as well, Sojiro,” Sae said, turning towards the older man. “I have the rest of the day off today, so I’ll be here to help if anyone tries to give you trouble.” Sojiro nodded; the two had become fairly close friends after the events of the previous year, and he trusted her to help watch over Akira.

“Thank you, both of you. I’m sure the thieves will be coming within the hour, so keep an eye out for them,” Maruki said, smiling at the two adults in front of him before turning around towards the stairs. “Alright, I’ll be on my way,” Maruki waved behind him as he went downstairs, leaving the diner as he headed straight for his taxi without any further interactions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, thanks for reading my newest chapter! I really appreciate the feedback and comments left on chapter one, and I apologize for not responding. I'll be sure to take the time to respond from here on to all comments(because that's just how I do things). I have a rough outline set up for most of the fic, but I'm going to be revising a lot of it, so expect the next chapter either Sunday or Monday(Or sometime next week, I'm bad at setting time limits for myself)  
> Anyways, thank you again for reading and I look forward to writing more!


	3. Chapter 3

“Gah!” Akira gasped as he jolted awake, sitting upright on the ground. Looking down at himself, Akira saw that he was still in the same clothes as before, minus the white glove on his left hand. “Good, it seemed to have worked,” he said aloud, breathing a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Maruki.” The Councillor Arcana burned within him as he jumped up from where he was lying down. As he looked up, he gasped in awe as he saw a beautiful white palace towering over the land. ‘Is that really my palace?’ Akira thought, shaking his head free of his forming doubts as he looked around at his immediate surroundings.He woke up on lush grass next to a paved path with trees lining the path towards a massive gate with walls spanning out on both sides, creating a square around the palace. Akira ripped his eyes away from the beautiful landscape, focusing on the gate at the end of the path as he began walking. As he made his way towards the gate, he heard voices all around him from people(cognitions, Akira assumed) lounging in the shade casted by the tall trees. They all stared at him with complete reverence and shock before casting their gaze elsewhere as Akira slowed down to eavesdrop.

_ “Isn’t that Lord Kurusu?” _

_ “What’s he doing outside of the walls?” _

_ “Is he just taking a stroll? But why not in his Royal Garden?” _

Akira let a small frown cross his face before being replaced by realization. “It makes sense that I’m the ruler of this palace; it is my subconscious after all. But still, that doesn’t make it any less weird,” Akira muttered to himself, walking towards a group of well-dressed cognitions in the middle of the path, all of them quickly moving out of the way so he could get through.“So these cognitions are treating me as royalty. Well, it’s convenient at the very least.” Akira walked towards the gate blocking his path to the palace, where two guards in shining white armor stood. As they noticed who was walking towards them, they immediately kneeled down in front of him. 

Akira kept a straight face as he stared down at them. ‘Guess I’ll have to pretend,’ Akira thought to himself as he addressed the guards.

“Stand up and open the gate for me, my loyal subjects!” Akira commanded, mimicking the kings that he saw in television series along with copying how Shadow Kamoshida treated his men. Just the thought of acting like Kamoshida made Akira want to vomit, but he kept a stern face as the guards did as they were told, and without any further interaction, Akira entered into a beautiful garden. ‘Of course the majority of flowers are violets, because why wouldn’t they be,’ Akira thought to himself, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Again, he shook his head; he didn’t have time to admire the absolutely stunning garden around him, so he began walking straight down the main path towards the palace. As he approached closer, he began to feel an immense presence from within, sending chills down Akira’s spine. ‘No, I have to keep going,’ Akira strengthened his resolve as he felt the three strengthened Arcana deep within himself pulse with power. 

When he finally reached the ornate doors to the palace, he had the guards open the gate for him exactly as the previous did. As he entered, he was met with a huge room with golden chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The entire room was pure white with paintings and sculptures of… Akira and his friends. In every one they were in their phantom thief outfits, but instead of being their normal colors, they were all white with gold accessories. Additionally, the paintings of Akira had a golden crown with a diamond embedded into it. He also had a scepter in one of the paintings with an engraving of his mask into it. Akira looked around at the paintings of his friends, and they all had the same engraving on their right breast that he had on his scepter. The only one that wasn’t like this was Sumire; she was not in her phantom thief outfit. Rather, she was in a beautiful white dress that flowed behind her. On top of her head was an ornate golden crown with a ruby embedded. Akira’s eyes stayed on the painting, admiring just how beautiful his girlfriend was.

‘God, I want to stand here and stare at this forever, but I can’t. I have to keep moving,’ Akira thought to himself, tearing his eyes away and looking around the massive room. Hundreds of people all dressed in white and gold standing near each other and laughing with one another. He also felt a familiar feeling around him as blue flames erupted around him, changing his clothes into his phantom thief outfit.

‘So, I’m a threat, huh?’ 

“ _ So, it seems you continue to deny your calling,”  _ a voice eerily familiar rang around Joker.

“Who’s there?!” Joker called, head darting around for the owner of the voice, the cognitions seemingly unperturbed by the voice.

_ “Hmph, you should already know by now. I am you,”  _ the voice called back, sending a shiver down Akira’s back. ‘Me?’ Joker thought to himself, quickly slapping himself. ‘No, I can’t let that distract me. This is my palace, so it makes sense for my shadow to rule it.’

“Alright, you answered that one, so now here’s another: where are you?” Joker shouted back at the voice, the cognitions continuing to ignore him. 

_ “If you truly will refuse the people’s wishes then come to the Main Hall of the castle. I will be waiting for you there, if you can make it here of course,” _ the voice echoed menacingly around the hall. Akira closed his eyes; he didn’t like the last part, but he didn’t have much choice in the matter except play along. Reopening them, his eyes landed on a large group of well dressed cognitions. ‘They seem harmless enough,’ Joker thought to himself as he approached the group. After asking around from group to group, Joker realized that the cognitions no longer saw him as the ruler of the palace; rather, just as a guest wishing to speak to their lord. One of the friendlier guests even gave him a map of the area, showing him where the great hall was.

‘A kitchen, study, and then finally the great hall, huh?’ Joker thought to himself, noticing the three rooms that were labelled on the map. There was also an entrance from the outside into the kitchen, as well as another exit from the kitchen that led to winding hallways and small rooms.

“So, go straight through here, and then continue going straight through the next room, and then… keep going straight. Huh, seems simple enough. There’s no need to explore then,” Joker pondered aloud, beginning to walk towards the great hall as he stowed away his map into his pocket.

As he opened the first door along the line of rooms going to the great hall, a spray of bullets pelted the door and the surrounding wall. “Shit!” Joker shouted, none of the cognitions even bothered to look over as Joker used the door to shield himself. As the gunshots stopped, Joker drew a deep breath in, preparing himself mentally for combat. He reached up to his mask, focusing on the sea of persona to choose from. ‘Never hurts to start with Arse- Wait, what?’ Joker cut his thoughts off, a frown crossing his face; he felt all of the persona within the sea of souls, all except for those of the Fool Arcana. Joker focused on Arsene, his signature persona, but it was as if something was blocking him from summoning the Pillager of Twilight. “Shit, really?” Joker cursed under his breath, closing his eyes. “Oh well, I’ll have answers soon enough.” Joker took a deep breath and, donning his classic smirk, burst through into the room.

He was immediately greeted by slashes from a whip and a sword, of which he flipped away from with grace, finally landing on a nearby table as gourmet food was flung onto the floor.

“So, the evil side of our lord has appeared, Dame Panther,” a familiar male voice rang out.

“It appears so, Sir Fox,” another familiar female voice cackled.

Joker already knew who his enemies were, but he looked up anyways at his two teammates. ‘So, they’re in their thief clothing as well, but, just like the paintings, in all white and go- Shit!’ Joker’s thoughts were cut short as Cognition Yusuke dashed forward, his blade cutting horizontally in front of him. Joker kicked off the table, dodging the katana as the table flipped over. The cognition’s katana sliced through the table, sending pieces of wood flying around the room as Joker landed, rolling to the right to dodge Cognition Ann’s whip as it cracked down mere inches from his head. As he stood back up, he realized that they now had him surrounded. His eyes darting between the two, Joker realized something about them; their masks were completely different. Instead of their normal masks in the Metaverse, they both donned a shining white and gold helmet that showed only their faces. Joker sighed as the two began their approach again, splitting his focus between the two. His face broke out into a grin; he couldn’t help but feel excited for a fight even if it was against his friends.

Yusuke’s cognition was the first to attack, making a stab at Joker’s right side. Joker instinctively turned his body to dodge, but sensed Cognition Ann’s whip cracking down for his exact position. Before it connected, Joker saw a low hanging chandelier and flung out his left hand, sending his grappling hook flying along with him. With grace, Joker spun around in the air before landing on the chandelier, looking down at the cognitions of his friends.

“ _ Impressive! Very, very impressive! So, you have managed to dodge my great knight’s ambush, and even escape their coordinated attack!”  _ the voice from before rung out. The two cognitions immediately knelt and bowed their heads at the voice.

‘Damnit, is this really how it is in the real world too?’ Joker thought to himself, not bothering to mask his anger on his face. Still on the chandelier, Joker looked up towards the ceiling. “So, ” _ me _ ”, did you cook these cognitions up yourself?” Joker taunted, even though he felt an uneasy feeling in his gut.

“ _ How foolish! You still truly do not understand. Your friends in the real world have seen you as a higher being for quite some time now; I have merely given their thoughts form, aided with their own shadows, of course,” _ the voice countered.

‘So, they’ve lost their powers, huh? No, more like they gave me their powers, just like with the cognition shadow fusion in Shido,’’ Joker thought as the two shadows rose back up, grabbing hold of their white and golden weapons.

“So that’s how it is. Well, it seems like I’ll have to give it back to them. Hopefully Morgana and Ryuji are making progress,” Joker said to himself as he flipped off of the chandelier to face the two shadows.

* * *

Ryuji and Morgana were walking towards the station in Yongen in complete silence, engrossed in their own thoughts until they reached the platform for Sjibuya.

“So Morgana, who should we get to first?” Ryuji asked, breaking the silence between the two. Morgana popped his head out of Ryuji’s bag and put his paws onto the blonde’s shoulder.

“Hm…” The cat pondered. “We should try and get as many people as possible at once to save time, right?”

“True that. Let’s see here,” Ryuji pulled out his phone to see where everyone was on the messaging app. Just as he was doing that, the train approached the station, slowly coming to a stop. The doors opened, allowing the passengers to get off.

“Got it. So, Makoto and Haru are together at Shujin. Weird, wonder why they’re there,” Ryuji began, a frown crossing his face before continuing. “Ann and Yusuke are together at the beef bowl shop on Central Street. Hopefully Yusuke isn’t making Ann pay,” a grin tugged at Ryuji’s face as he said that; the blue haired teen almost never ate out with any of the former thieves, and when he did he would have to borrow money. Morgana coughed while glaring at Ryuji, to which the blonde returned his focus to his phone. “And finally, Futaba is at her place while Sumire is… also at Futaba’s place. I guess it makes sense since they both go to Shujin. So, who’re you thinking of going after first?” Ryuji asked as he boarded the train to Shibuya, the doors closing behind him as he somehow found a seat on the packed train.

“Well, I was going to say why don’t we go see Futaba and Sumire first, because they were in Yongen, but it’s too late now,” Morgana said, slightly irritated but shook his head before he actually insulted Ryuji. “You said that Lady Ann and Yusuke are at the beef bowl shop, right? Let’s head towards them first.” 

Ryuji nodded, silently thankful that Morgana let up as he brought up his text chat with Ann.

_ Hey, Morgana and I are heading your way right now. Do you and Yusuke wanna meet up and chat? _

_ Why’s Morgana with you? And is Akira coming with? _

Ryuji looked at Morgana. “Just lie and say he isn’t feeling well. It hurts to lie to such a beautiful girl, but it is necessary for our mission,” Morgana said, a pained expression on his face.

“Dude…” Ryuji stared deadpanned at the cat before he looked back at his phone.

_ Akira’s not feeling the greatest right now, so he’s going to take a pass. Either way, can we meet up at Central Square? _

_ Fine. _

“Jeez, does she have to be so passive-aggressive?” Ryuji muttered to Morgana, receiving a few strange looks from nearby passengers.

“Remember, her and Yusuke aren’t themselves right now, so keep your guard up,” Morgana reminded the blonde-haired teen, diving back into the bag before anyone of importance took notice.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. C’mon, our stop’s right here,” Ryuji said as he got off the train with Morgana in tow. “Jeez, how did Akira do this all last year? You’re so heavy,” Ryuji complained, moving the cat bag from shoulder to shoulder.

“Well, Akira is a lot stronger than you. He trained at the gym you showed him every night!” Morgana retorted. Ryuji was going to fight back, but he saw Ann and Yusuke up ahead, and decided it wasn’t the time to fight; Akira needed their help right now.

“Hey Ann, Yusuke!” Ryuji yelled over at them, ignoring the stares from the bystanders around him as he forced a big smile onto his face. As him and Morgana approached, it was clear that Ann and Yusuke barely noticed their presence, the two only moving their eyes towards Ryuji and Morgana.

“Oh, you truly came without Akira,” Yusuke said, disappointment written across his face, his eyes moving back to the ground.

“Yeah, I told Ann that he isn’t feeling well. Didn’t you tell him?” Ryuji turned to Ann who just gave him a halfhearted shrug.

“I did, but it seems like he still expected our great leader to show up. To be honest, so did I,” Ann looked down at the ground, face covered in sadness with the lack of Akira.

‘Shit, they’re deep in this crap,’ Ryuji began to worry about his former teammates before snapping himself back to reality.

“Anyways, we have to talk to you. It actually involves Akira,” Morgana said, the two immediately perking up at Akira’s name.

“Yeah, he told us that he’s been getting concerned with how everyone is acting,” Ryuji came out truthfully, not knowing how to start.

“How we’re… acting?” Yusuke repeated as a question. “What could he possibly mean by that? If I am acting out of turn, then I will change myself. I could not repay my gratitude back to him in this lifetime alone.”

“It’s that! That right there! You guys are relying on him too much, or at least that’s what he told us,” Ryuji bluntly laid out the truth. Morgana muttered something along the lines of “you idiot, that won't work.”

“What’re you saying, Ryuji? Don’t you have a lot to be thankful for towards Akira? He’s why all of us are at this point, right?” Ann shot back, catching Ryuji off guard. Trying to come up with a comeback, he began to stutter, eventually lowering his head.

“Let me take over, Ryuji,” Morgana whispered. Ryuji raised one shoulder up to let Morgana make eye contact with their teammates and let him speak.

“I have a question for you two: How do you think Akira feels right now? With how you’re acting, I mean,” Morgana asked, staring at both of the teens.

“I feel like he’s okay right now?” Ann said, a confused look on her face. “I mean, he’s already helped me so much with my modelling career along with strengthening my heart. He’s so strong and dependable; why would I attempt to go through life alone when he can help me?”

“Do you really believe that he wants that for you? For you to rely on him so much?” Morgana asked. “Why did he help you in strengthening your heart so much?” Morgana finished. Ann looked quizzically at the cat.

“It’s because he’s just a nice guy; he’s the type to always help others,” Ann replied. “I remember after a certain photoshoot we went back to the diner over there to talk, and that’s where I promised him I would… help him if he ever… needed… what am I saying?” Conflicting feelings suddenly flashed across Ann’s face as if she realized something. “Ah! Why do I have a feeling of deja vu?!” Ann exclaimed, putting her hand to her head as her face scrunched up in pain. The three looked over at her, Yusuke having an extremely confused look on his face as Ryuji and Morgana turned to him.

“What about you Yusuke?” Morgana asked the blue haired boy. “Do you think Akira is okay with how you guys are acting?”

“I would assume he would be okay with it, or else he would have told me so!” Yusuke shot at Morgana defensively. “He showed me both light and darkness in the world; beauty and ugliness. Hope and Desire. My best piece of artwork came into this world with Akira’s assistance, and I feel I need him and his guiding hand more than ever!”

“Yusuke, why did he help you so much again? Think about your time with him; what happened?” Morgana asked the bluenette. Yusuke scrunched up his face at the question.

“I-I remember the day of the art competition, where I entered my piece “Desire and Hope” and won the entire thing. I remember the joy I felt, not just about winning, but also knowing that I had made such a strong friend to support me. At the end, I told him that I would assist… him if he ever… stum- urgh!” Yusuke grabbed his head in a similar fashion as Ann, his face becoming pale and eyes wide in shock. “Am I making the same mistake again?”

“Nice work, Morgana,” Ryuji whispered to the cat who just smirked at him. “And thank you.” Ryuji, after another look at his distressed friends, turned his back to leave. However, before he started walking away, he turned his head towards the two, hands still to their head but standing straight.

“He’s relying on you guys. Meet us at Leblanc later today,” he stated as he and Morgana left them to sort out their feelings just as Akira did earlier that year, heading towards Shujin Academy.

* * *

“Shit!” Joker cried out in pain as fire and ice hit his chest, sending him straight backwards into a wall. Luckily the wound wasn’t too bad, but the issue was that the two shadows had transformed into Hecate and Kamu-Susano-o. The two raised their hands towards Joker, preparing another elemental attack. “Black Fros-” Joker began, attempting to rip off his mask but it wouldn’t come off. The two shadows released their attacks, huge shards of ice as well as flaming fireballs sent straight for Joker. Just before they reached the helpless leader of the phantom thieves, Joker felt the Magician Arcana burn within him as he finally ripped off his mask.

“Forneus!” He yelled out as blue flames surrounded him, a cool wave of healing washing over him before searing pain coursed through his body. Joker removed himself from his indentation from the wall and saw the manta ray persona in front of him, phasing in and out of reality from being hit by Hecate’s fire magic. “Return!” Joker shouted as he sprinted to the right, avoiding another barrage of fire and ice from the two shadows. He scanned the room, eyes eventually landing on a low hanging chandelier that was yet to be destroyed from the battle. As he sent out his grappling hook yet again, Hecate’s fire magic crackled underneath him, burning his lower half as he flew towards the chandelier. Ignoring the intense pain, he unsheathed Paradise Lost from within his sleeve, slicing through Kamu Susano-o as he sped past the shadow. The shadow flew the same direction as Joker, a large gash across it’s chest.

“Cerberus!” Joker said through gritted teeth, releasing his grappling hook on the chandelier as he spun around midair, focusing on the airborne shadow. “Agidyne!” A pillar of flames shot out from within the watchdog of Hades’ mouth, making direct contact with Yusuke’s ultimate persona. The flames burned through the shadow as they sent it hurtling towards the ground, leaving a huge crater in the once immaculate kitchen.

Joker recalled Cerberus as he sent out his grappling once more in midair, this time towards Hecate as the shadow sent out numerous fire attacks towards him. The hook connected with one of the beasts on Hecate’s chains, pulling Joker down as he avoided the fire blasts and shot towards Ann’s ultimate persona. The beast that Joker impaled with his grapple rose into the air before slamming down into the ground. 

“Whoa!” Joker exclaimed as his trajectory changed rapidly, now hurtling towards the ground himself. Just before hitting the ground, he released his grapple from the beast, rolling as he hit the ground underneath Hecate. As he finished his roll, he pushed off the ground, leaping behind her as he ripped off his mask.

“Surt! Brave Blade!” He roared, the Norse fire giant materializing above Hecate, driving his flaming sword into the shadow’s chest. Joker breathed out a sigh of relief as Surt removed his blade, letting Hecate fall to the ground next to Kamu Susano-o. Joker cautiously approached the two defeated shadows, ignoring his injuries as he kept his focus on the two prone figures. Suddenly, blue flames erupted around them, surrounding the shadows entirely. As the flames disappeared, Shadow Ann and Yusuke were revealed in front of Joker, heavily injured and clutching their bodies in pain. A part of Joker, the Lovers and Emperor Arcana, came to the forefront of his mind as he stared at the injured shadows of his teammates. He gripped Paradise Lost, ignoring his burn marks from the fight as he stared the two of them down in silence.

“Akira…” The two shadows muttered, realization suddenly crossing their faces. Joker’s eyes widened at the sudden change, but quickly returned to a more neutral look. “Akira… I’m so sorry… I forgot about my promise again; my promise to be there for you when you need me the mo-” Ann’s shadow began, Joker cutting her off by putting his hand up in front of him. As he was about to respond, Shadow Yusuke stumbled forward with a look of horror on his face.

“Akira! I have betrayed your trust again. After all that you have done for me, how can I possibly stand by your side after betraying you aga-” Shadow Yusuke’s words were full of pain, tears beginning to well up in the eyes of both shadows.

“Guys, it’s okay,” Joker interrupted Shadow Yusuke, shocked expressions crossing their faces. “The fact that you two are apologizing to me is proof enough that you’ve come to your senses. And, if you two are truly sorry, return to your real selves and come assist me.” Joker flashed a charming grin at the two stunned shadows, whose faces slowly softened into smiles of their own before phasing out of existence, presumably returning to the real Ann and Yusuke. Once the two vanished, Joker removed his mask once again, Gabriel appearing behind him.

“Salvation,” Joker commanded, green energy surrounding him as the burn marks on his lower half completely healed, leaving scars from the injuries. ‘Just some more for the collection,’ Joker smirked at himself; healing magic could heal all wounds, but it healed in a way that made sense biologically which led to many scars from battle all over his body. “Return,” Joker whispered, his mask reappearing. As Gabriel integrated back into the sea of souls, Joker could feel the personae of the Lovers and Emperor Arcana grow stronger, just as the Chariot, Magician, and Councillor did earlier at Leblanc. He let out a small chuckle before feeling sudden mental exhaustion; luckily it wasn’t too extreme but Joker knew that he needed to pace himself for the rest of the palace. He more than likely was going to face the other thieves, along with his shadow at the end. The mere thought of fighting his friends, even if they were just shadows, made his stomach churn, but he pushed that feeling aside as he navigated through the now destroyed kitchen. 

As he reached the door, he could feel the immense power grow more pronounced. Shaking his head, Joker opened the door, revealing a long but beautiful hallway. The walls were decorated with paintings of the thieves in the outfits Joker saw them in earlier. The sides of the hallway were ornate wooden tables with golden candles placed upon them, mainly just for show due to the numerous chandeliers hanging overhead and lamps placed orderly in between the tables. 

Joker calmly walked through the hallway, catching his breath and preparing himself mentally to face whoever was next. Reaching the end of the hallway, he still felt a nagging sensation in the back of his mind; why was the Fool Arcana so weak right now? The representation of his bond with Igor was still within Joker, but it was dull. 

‘There’s no way Igor got beaten by another false god, right?’ Joker thought, now staring directly at another wooden door wooden door decorated with gold ornamentations in the shape of the phantom thief logo. As he pushed the door open, he felt two strong attacks blasting through the air towards him. Joker dove into the room, barely rolling out of the way of the psychokinetic blast as well as a wave of nuclear energy that destroyed the entrance to the Library as he hid behind a nearby bookshelf.

As he poked his head out, Joker saw the giant forms of Anat and Astarte, Makoto and Haru’s ultimate personas, gathering energy as they stared in his direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, turns out I really am bad at setting time limits for myself. I really liked what I had in my rough draft for chapter three, so it didn't take long for me to revise and edit everything. This is my first attempt at writing combat, so now more than ever critique is appreciated. I want to make this story the best it can be, so if something seems off to you please let me know and I will fix it later today(I have work today... ugh).  
> Anyways, I really hope you enjoy and hope to see you in the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

The silence was palpable between Ryuji and Morgana as they made their way towards the Ginza line, the biting winter breeze carrying the mindless chatter of the people around them. However, the two barely noticed the outside world, engrossed in their mission and how dealing with Ann and Yusuke turned out. ‘Did we do a good enough job?’ Ryuji worried to himself, face scrunching up into frustration at the thought of Ann and Yusuke deciding to stay in another reality made by the will of the masses. 

As the two approached the platform that would take them to Shujin Academy, Morgana decided to break the silence. “Hey Ryuji, don’t be so direct with these two, alright?” Morgana asked softly, poking his head out of Ryuji’s bag as the blonde teen turned his head to meet the cat’s eyes. Ryuji felt slightly annoyed from the comment, but he could tell that Morgana was right; without him, he would have never been able to break through to them. 

“Alright, I’ll try my best,” Ryuji sighed, closing his eyes while waiting for the train. None of the bystanders around him paid him or Morgana any mind with the cat still being out of the bag, paws resting on Ryuji’s shoulder. “Hey Morgana, there’s somethin’ I’ve been meaning to ask,” Ryuji again turned his head towards the cat, who stared intently back at him, waiting for him to continue. “Why are Makoto and Haru back at Shujin? They graduated last year, and on top of that it’s winter break. Isn’t it weird that they’re there?” Ryuji asked. 

“Hm…” Morgana closed his eyes, the sound of the oncoming train attempting to break his concentration. ‘We know from Yusuke and Ann that everyone -minus me and Ryuji- are treating Akira as someone greater. So, whatever reason Makoto and Haru are there is probably nothing good…’ Morgana’s thoughts trailed off as the train towards Shujin slowed to a stop with Ryuji stepping onto the train after letting a horde of people off the train.

“I hate rush hour…” Ryuji grumbled, managing to take a highly coveted seat near the door. With his bag on his lap, Ryuji fumbled around in his pocket until he pulled out his phone to check the time. ‘Huh, it’s already 6:00p.m?’ Ryuji stared down at his device; it made sense that everything up until now took that long, but it barely felt like half an hour passed, let alone an hour. As the last people entered the train cabin and the doors closed, realization suddenly lit up on Ryuji’s face. “Morgana, you never told me why Makoto and Haru are at Shujin,” the blonde muttered down to the bag, but no passengers were paying him any mind. 

“I don’t have an answer for that, but after seeing Ann and Yusuke as well as seeing the texts from the thieves, it can’t be for anything good,” Morgan’s muffled voice came from the bag, loud enough for the people around Ryuji to hear. To his surprise(and relief), no one even bothered to look over at him. ‘What’s up with these people?’ Ryuji thought to himself. Usually at this point at least one person would have glanced over at him, whether in curiosity or in annoyance, but no one bothered, all of them having blank expressions on their faces.

“Morgana, I think you can at least poke your head out,” Ryuji cautiously said. With a curious meow, Morgana slowly unzipped Ryuji’s bag from the inside and poked his black head out. After a brief second of reorienting himself, the cat looked around the train cabin. He scanned the people’s faces, noticing something eerily similar about them all: they all had flashes of white within their irises.

“What the hell?” Morgana whispered, causing Ryuji to look down at him in confusion. Before the blonde had the chance to ask what was wrong, Morgana motioned upwards with his head. Ryuji complied, looking up towards the passenger’s face directly in front of him. He noticed the flash of white immediately, bringing his gaze back to Morgana as fear crossed his face. “It seems that the will of the masses is already spreading again, just like with the false god of control and Maruki,” Morgana stated matter-of-factly, feeling a knot form in his stomach. If the will of the masses has already influenced this many people, then how had Akira fought it back for all this time? “Wait… don’t tell me he’s been unconsciously fighting it off directly after the fight with Maruki!” Morgana softly exclaimed, still trying to not bring attention to himself.

“Huh?” Ryuji stared confusedly at the black cat before it fully hit him. “Wait, are you saying this shit was in him for the entire year? And he didn’t say a word to you about it?” Ryuji shot at the cat, red hot anger beginning to build within him; seeing Akira struggling earlier with nothing he could do hurt, but the possibility that he was struggling by himself for nearly a year? Ryuji couldn’t stand the thought.

“The only thing he would talk about that seemed out of the ordinary were nightmares, mainly of our time as phantom thieves,” Morgana said, not even attempting to be defensive. “Akira… I can only imagine what he’s going through right now…” Morgana trailed off as he felt the train beginning to slow down, signifying they were close to Shujin Academy.

* * *

“Argh!” Joker let out as Anat crashed through several bookshelves, books flying all around the room as Anat’s fist found Joker’s chest, sending him flying. A flash of blue crossed Anat’s usually yellow eyes as the robotic persona spun around in a circle, a wave of nuclear energy shooting across the library towards the airborne Joker. 

“Thoth!” Joker ripped off his mask, calling forth the egyptian god of writing as well as a soul within the newly strengthened Emperor Arcana. Opening the book within its hands and facing it towards its attacker, Thoth nullified the nuclear blast. Joker’s mouth curled up before he slammed into a bookshelf unperturbed by the fight, shattering it as it stopped his flight. Debris flew around him, pieces of wood embedding into his flesh as Joker landed on the ground surrounded by the destroyed bookshelf. He could feel the blood beginning to ooze from the wounds as well as a bruise beginning to form on his chest, but the adrenaline pumping through his veins allowed him to ignore the pain. 

“Persona retu- Shit!” Joker began, putting his hand back to his face before he felt immense physical pain shoot through his body. No damage had been done to Joker directly, but Astarte had shot a psychokinetic blast at Thoth, surrounding the persona entirely before crushing it. Joker’s vision began to blur; he still felt Thoth out on the field, but he could tell his persona and, by extension him, was on death’s doorstep. As the two ultimate personae of Makoto and Haru prepared another attack, Joker brought Thoth back into the sea of souls and ran behind a large bookshelf. His movements were slowed due to a large chunk of wood stuck in his leg, causing him to limp. 

“Parvati,” Joker weakly uttered as he summoned a persona of the Lovers Arcana. He would have chosen Ishtar, but he knew that summoning the ultimate persona would create a huge strain on his mental stamina. “Diarahan,” Joker commanded the persona, limp running as he heard gunshots destroying his cover behind him. Parvati stayed near him as green energy swirled into him, his body healing his wounds as the debris fell harmlessly onto the floor, leaving only slight scarring and holes where they had once been. Joker pulled Parvati back into the sea of souls, his mask forming back onto his face as he felt physically revitalized. Mentally was a different story as a splitting headache slowed down his movements, eventually making him crouch down from the pain. 

The gunshots from Astarte passed him overhead, the destroyed sections of the bookshelf flying over Joker. ‘Need… some coffee…’ Joker’s mind screamed as he reached within his coat, procuring a thermos filled with freshly brewed coffee that he had made before leaving for Shibuya.  _ ‘Never know when you might need it,’ _ he had thought to himself. Joker popped the lid off the drink, immediately chugging the warm coffee. For some unknown reason, coffee had a special healing effect in the Metaverse where it would assist in mental fatigue. Warmth spread throughout Joker’s body as his headache died down, only a slight throbbing remaining in the back of his head. 

“Good; now, it’s showtime!” Joker shouted out as he jumped over the destroyed bookshelf he had taken cover under, facing the two ultimate personae, pink and blue energy swirling around them. Joker could feel the intense power building within the two personae; it would be more than enough to destroy him if both landed. Scanning within himself, Joker found that he could really only use the five Arcana belonging to the ones that were resisting the will of the masses; the others were still there, but extremely weakened. ‘Shit, Metatron would be really useful right now,’ Joker’s mind raced as he dove to the right, avoiding the combined attack from Anat and Astarte. ‘And the Fool Arcana is still blocked… this isn’t good.” 

“Raphael!” Joker yelled as he continued running around the two personae, weaving in and out of bookshelves for cover. As the archangel appeared, it was immediately met with a line of psychic energy fashioned like a spear. “Return! Thoth!” Joker commanded as the psychic energy harmless hit the angel, causing no damage to it or Joker. Raphael disappeared back into Joker’s subconscious, Thoth retaking his place in reality as nuclear energy rocketed towards the persona. Again, the attack did nothing, leaving Joker a slight opening to counterattack.

“Thor!” Joker roared out, the space Thoth was occupying now being filled by the god of thunder. Instantly Thor charged towards the two personae, clutching mjolnir in his right hand as electricity crackled around him. Anat brought up it’s hands to discharge nuclear energy at Thor, but Joker’s persona slammed mjolnir into Makoto’s awakened persona, sending it sliding backwards. Skid marks were left across the previously immaculate marble floor as Anat slid into a wall, creating a small crater as the persona was embedded somewhat within the wall.

Just as Joker was about to command Thor to attack the other persona, gunshots ripped through the god of thunder. “Damn it!” Joker cursed as Thor fell onto his back, barely staying out on the battlefield; the pain Joker felt was akin to that of being stabbed by a thousand spears, all impaling different parts of his body. Falling to one knee, Joker’s vision blurred, only barely able to see Astarte and Anat surround him, the latter having cast Diarahan on itself looking fully recovered.

‘This is bad,’ Joker thought to himself as he called Thor back, the two shadows on opposite sides of him charging up a powerful blast to finish him off. ‘Come on, Ryuji, Morgana. Hurry up and break through to them!’

* * *

“Alright; Shujin Academy!” Ryuji exclaimed, standing at the gate to his former school. After a second of rustling with the zipper, Morgana popped his head out and swiped at Ryuji’s head.

“Not so loud, idiot!” Morgana hissed at the blonde, who just put his right hand up to where Morgana hit him.

“Why? No one is paying attention to us anyways,” Ryuji retorted before shrugging. “Oh well, we can’t be wasting time arguing about pointless shit. Akira’s in trouble right now.” 

“Yeah, let’s go!” Morgana said, staying out of the bag as Ryuji made his way to the back entrance of the school where he normally snuck in from. As the two entered, they were met with an overwhelming silence. It was Winter Break so school was out, but usually at least a few clubs would meet during the break. There was nothing to signify any sort of clubs within the school, or any living thing for that matter. 

‘Whatever, we can’t worry about that right now,’ Ryuji thought to himself, walking towards the stairs to the second floor. Every step he took echoed throughout the school, reminding him of the state his friends… no, the world was in right now. He suddenly felt an overwhelming pressure on his entire body; if he and Morgana screwed up and failed Akira, the whole world was doomed.

“Ryuji, we can’t focus on that right now,” Morgana’s words jolted Ryuji back to reality, now standing on the second floor of the empty school. 

“Huh? H-how’d you know?” Ryuji asked, sending a stunned look over at the cat perched on his right shoulder. Morgana let a small smile across his face as he stared back at Ryuji.

“You make what you’re thinking really obvious, Ryuji. Although that’s not an entirely bad thing,” Morgana added on before Ryuji could get defensive, catching the blonde off guard as he stared speechless at the cat. “Ryuji, we need to go right now,” Morgana gently nudged Ryuji’s face forward with the top of his head. Blinking a few times, Ryuji forced his mind to slow down as he slowly walked towards the library. He felt his heart rate increase with every step he took, the distance between him and the library becoming smaller and smaller. How were Makoto and Haru going to react? What was their plan on snapping the two out of this spell? On top of these questions, Ryuji’s head spun in circles as images of Akira fighting shadows by himself flooded his mind; determination flowed through him as he imagined his best friend valiantly fighting through hordes of shadows, a cocky grin on his face despite numerous cuts and bruises on his body, some quite severe. In seemingly no time at all Ryuji found himself at the door of Shujin’s library; he didn’t hear anything from within the library, but saw the silhouettes of his former teammates. 

“Alright, let’s go!” Ryuji said to Morgana, putting his hand on the cold doorknob and slowly opened the door. As he entered the library for the first time, he was met with books spanning the perimeter of the room with a table at the far end of the room with tiny cubicles set up for studying. 

“Ryuji? Morgana?” An all too familiar voice broke the silence, causing Ryuji to stop scanning the room as he shot his eyes to where the voice came from. At the center of the room were three tables, with the center one having Makoto and Haru sitting at. Makoto stared intently at the duo, white sparks evident in her eyes as she continued. “What are you two doing here? Wait, if you’re here Morgana, then so is Akira!” As Makoto finished, Haru sprung to her feet, looking excitedly at Ryuji.

“Ryuji-kun, is Akira really here? Me and Mako-chan have wonderful news for him if he is!” Haru exclaimed, cheerful as ever, which only put Ryuji more on edge. 

“What’s the news?” Morgana asked slowly, fearing what the answer might be. Makoto stood up as well at the question, a smile also forming on her lips.

“Well, Haru and I both came to the conclusion that having Akira live away from us was pointless, so we decided to come talk with the principal here to see if he could transfer for the final trimester of the year,” Makoto said matter-of-factly as if what she said wasn’t insane. Ryuji and Morgana both were taken aback by the comment, causing the two alumni to reflect their shocked looks back at them.

“What’s wrong, Ryuji-kun? Morgana-kun?” Haru asked sweetly, tilting her head to the side. ‘What’s wrong is that’s a weird thing to do!’ is what Ryuji wanted to say, but he took multiple deep breaths in; he remembered how Ann had countered his attempts at persuasion, and knew that he should leave this to Morgana. After a few seconds of silence, Morgana realized what Ryuji was doing as the blonde lifted his shoulder. Morgana put his paws onto Ryuji’s shoulders, his calm face hiding his concern for the two.

“It’s just… are you sure that’s what Akira would want?” Morgana asked, figuring that it was a good question to start with; it had worked with Yusuke and Ann, so hopefully it would work here.

“Of course! Why wouldn’t he want to move back here?” Makoto responded, not an ounce of doubt in her voice. Haru nodded her head, smiling ear to ear. 

“We’ve both missed him dearly, and when we were talking about him one day we had the idea to have him transfer back to Shujin for the final trimester!” Haru could barely contain her excitement as she clapped her hands together, giggling to herself.

“Akira would never have agreed to that!” Morgana protested, seeing things going south already. The two girls looked him directly in the eyes; the whiteness within their pupils had grown, almost overtaking the entirety of their eye.

“But he talked about moving back here, didn’t he Mako-chan?” Haru asked the brown haired girl, who nodded in response.

“Yeah, he did. One night when we were texting he mentioned how he missed living here with us, and I suggested coming back to Shujin. He texted back that he would if he could, and now he can!” Makoto ended with a genuine smile.

“So you decided to take him literally?” Ryuji couldn’t hold back anymore; these two were so far gone it scared him shitless. Makoto and Haru winced at his words with Morgana shooting an icy glare at him but allowed Ryuji to continue. “Akira worked his ass off to be at this point, to stand on his own two feet against this bitch of a world! When he told us that he would be going back to his hometown, I wanted him to stay as well. However, he taught me that I needed to move forward in life, to not let my life stagnate. You two trying to get him to move back here would be betraying everything that we went through, everything he went through!” Ryuji finished, a determined gaze fixed on the two stunned alumni in front of him. 

“Ryuji…” Morgana muttered next to the blonde’s head, shocked by the teen’s sudden eloquence with words. Suddenly, tears began to streak down the faces of the two girls as their eyes began to return to normal until any traces of white had fully disappeared.

“Yo-you’re right, Ryuji-kun…” Haru began through sobs. “I’m just being selfish. I so badly want to be near Akira again, but like you said, he fought so hard for us all to live our own lives…” she trailed off.

“Wh-what was I thinking?” Makoto looked down horrified at the floor, tears falling down. “I was putting my happiness, my wishes, over Akira’s again, wasn’t I?” Makoto looked up at Ryuji, her eyes puffed up from her tears. 

“Makoto…” Ryuji let out before gritting his teeth; these two seem to have broken out, and they needed to get the last two. He turned on his heels, putting the two behind him as he turned his head to face them. “Akira needs us right now, need you; meet up at Leblanc in around twenty minutes.” With everything that needed to be said was said, Ryuji left the two alone in the library to sort out their feelings.

* * *

Joker looked back and forth between the two personae, on the brink of death and out of options. Just as the two seemed to have hit the climax of their power, they froze up to Joker’s surprise. Then Joker realized the look in the persona’s eyes: hesitation. ‘Did they do it?’ Joker questioned himself before quickly reaching into his coat, feeling around until his fingers wrapped around a single smoke bomb. ‘Thank you so much, past Akira,’ Joker thought; just like with the coffee, he quickly threw together a smoke bomb just in case he needed it. Smoke covered the library as Joker threw the bomb down at the ground. The two personae, realizing that they no longer could see their target, began shooting blindly into the smoke. Joker could feel the intensity of the blasts as he limped towards a destroyed bookshelf nearby, the personae not realizing that they were no longer aiming at him but at each other. It was too late; as the smoke cleared, Anat and Astarte were nowhere to be seen, the shadows of Haru and Makoto kneeling in pain where the two previously had been.

Joker, grasping hold of Paradise Lost in his right hand, limped over to the shadows of his friends. Fighting through the sharp pain shooting through his body, Joker reached the two to see the horror mired with realization in their eyes. Seeing as they wouldn’t say anything to him, Joker let out a slight chuckle, pushing the pain he felt out of his mind.

“Ease up on yourselves, you two,” Joker grinned, his vision of the two still blurred but he could tell they were staring up at him in surprise. “Something greater than all of us took control over you again; however, the fact that you two aren’t trying to kill me right now shows that you’ve come to your senses. I’ve got to get through here, so if you would return to your real selves I would be greatly appreciative.” The two shadows continued to stare in surprise until their faces broke into smiles of their own, nodding towards Akira as they disappeared into dust floating in the air.

Immediately Joker felt the High Priestess and Empress Arcana pulse with newfound power, the personae strengthening within the sea of souls. Joker shakily reached up for his mask, summoning Isis. “Diarama,” he commanded, green energy streaming into his body as most of the wounds from battle healed, but not all of them. Joker let out a sigh; he knew that casting anything higher than Diarama would cause a great deal of mental fatigue, and as was shown in the battle, being slowed down by his mental capabilities would lead to his death.

Joker pushed those thoughts out of his mind, focusing on the destroyed room around him. ‘There it is,’ he thought as he laid his eyes upon another wooden door. ‘Just two left, then the ruler of this place,’ Joker assumed as he pushed the door open, revealing another long corridor with even more beautiful paintings depicting the phantom thieves as great knights. As he made his way further into the hallway, he could feel it; the immense power he had been feeling was nearly palpable. Once he finally reached the end of the hallway, it finally hit him who he was going to fight next: Sumire and Futaba.’I can’t hurt them,’ he immediately thought; his girlfriend and his sister-through-bond. His mind went back when he and Akechi went into the palace to give Maruki their answer after a week of living in his “dream” reality.

_ “I refuse to live in this reality, Maruki,” Joker gave his answer bluntly, sadness immediately showing on Maruki’s face. However, before he could even say anything, Sumire got up from the chair she was slumped over in. _

_ “You can’t be serious, right Senpai?” She asked, pain covering her face. Joker hated that face, but he had made up his mind. _

_ “You need to face reality, Sumire. I can help you with—” Sumire cut him off. _

_ “This is the one thing you can’t help me with!” She screamed at him, losing control. She suddenly jumped down into the middle of the room, her thieves' clothes materializing onto her body. “If it’s too painful to be myself, what’s the harm of being Kasumi? She’s the one everyone likes and wants; including you.” That last statement pissed Akira off, but he tried to keep his composure. _

_ “Kasumi is dead. Please accept that and let me get to know Sumire!” Akira exclaimed, trying to keep the anger out of his voice. _

_ “No, I can’t let that happen!” Sumire practically screeched as she lunged towards Joker with her saber, completely out of control. Joker took a step to the side, dodging Sumire’s saber with ease as he jumped back to put some distance between the two. _

_ “Sumire?” Joker looked concernedly at the crazed look in the girl’s eyes; full of pain, of regret. _

_ “Please… Don’t try to stop me. If you do, then I’ll…” Sumire trailed off as she raised her saber at him; he sensed her fear, her desperation to stay as the person she held so much higher than herself. _

_ “Please don’t do this..” Joker responded, no longer concealing his emotions as shock covered his face. He ignored the nerves in his voice as his eyes began also pleading with Sumire, already despising the look of terror and pain on her face. He knew that he needed to help her, no matter the cost. _

_ “How stubborn…” Crow’s, Akechi’s codename, voice was filled with annoyance as he stared at the desperate girl in front of him. He turned his head to face Joker, who didn’t take his eyes off Sumire. “No matter what you say to her, I doubt she’ll understand. I don’t think we have a choice in the matter here.” Crow turned his back on the two, head still facing towards Joker. _

_ “I could take care of it for you now… but you’d prefer her to leave here alive, right? Just hurry and end this.” With that, Crow left the room, leaving Joker versus a frenzying Sumire. She immediately started swinging wildly at Joker, trying to destroy the one preventing her from being Kasumi, forgetting her feelings for the man that had helped her regain her confidence. All Joker did was dodge; ‘I can’t hurt her. Just tire her out,’ was the only thought in his mind. _

_ Some of her attacks landed onto Joker, but barely grazed his skin leaving shallow scratches. Seeing her lung forward, Joker jumped backwards to try and gain some distance. “Cendrillon!” Sumire summoned her persona, a pillar of light forming under Joker’s feet and shot straight through him. Luckily, Joker chose Gabriel before coming into the palace, so his wounds healed from the attack instead of damaging him. Sumire sent Cendrillon forward, screaming “Brave Blade!” Joker tried to dodge backwards, but the attack still hit, the razor sharp nails from the persona cutting across his chest. Joker stumbled backwards, right hand rising up to feel the fresh wound. He felt blood seep through his glove; if not for the immense adrenaline rushing through his veins, he would be knocked unconscious from that attack. Sumire brought her blade up again as she rushed towards the injured Phantom Thief leader, her blade sinking into his body more and more as the loss of blood was slowing him down. However, he saw the strain the battle was putting onto her. ‘Just a little longer,’ Joker thought to himself, his whole body screaming to fight back. He could end the fight in an instant, but something deep within him told him that he couldn’t hurt her. As Sumire lunged for his head, he elegantly dodged it and grabbed hold of the hilt. _

_ “Please, Sumire…” Joker breathed out, feeling each cut on his body, blood oozing from the gash on his chest. “Let me get to know you, not Kasumi!” he fought back his tears as he stared directly at the torn girl. _

_ Sumire’s eyes lit up in realization, regaining her senses enough to see the state Joker was in; she was the one who hurt him, it was her fault, everything was her fault. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she feebly tried to pull her saber away, Joker’s grip tightening even more on the blade. _

_ “I-I-I can’t live like this. Knowing that I killed Kasumi, almost ki-killed you, Senpai… All this pain is too much for me to bear!” Sumire tried pulling her sword away from Joker again, but he held his grasp, feeling the blade beginning to cut into his hands.  _

_ “You won’t have to bear it by yourself any longer. Let me help you, Sumire,” Joker nearly whispered. Shock covered the exhausted girl’s face. _

_ “Se-senpai? I...I-” Sumire began before falling to her knees, exhaustion catching up to her as she fell unconscious. Joker caught her in his arms and gently laid her down, taking a look at her before shakily getting to his feet and summoned Gabriel, healing his wounds. His phantom thief outfit was completely torn from the fight with scars showing through the tears in the fabric, blood staining his clothes a deep red. _

_ ‘Good, I didn’t injure her at the very least,’ he thought to himself, dropping her blade to the ground next to her, looking down at the unconscious girl he thought he knew. Did he even know this girl in front of him, or was everything about her made up? Joker shook his head free of the thoughts; ‘Even if everything was made up, I’ll just have to start over with Sumire, not Kasumi.’ _

_ “You moron. You could have easily finished that ages ago,” Akechi snarled at Joker, walking up to his side. _

_ “Crow, our fight isn’t with her,” Joker calmly responded, turning his attention back to the other side of the room where Maruki stood. _

Akira snapped back to reality, knowing how the rest went. Maruki made her persona go berserk, the phantom thieves caught up with him and Akechi, and they saved Sumire. Joker shook his head; just thinking about Sumire in pain made his heart seize up in anguish. He took a deep breath in and closed his eyes.

“I can’t hurt them; I can’t hurt her. I just can’t. Please Ryuji and Morgana, get to them before I do,” Joker whispered to no one, eyes slowly opening as he stared at the door in front of him leading to the Great Hall; he was determined to finish this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, here is the promised double chapter release! I will NOT make anymore promises like this again, because I'm going to have to write the upcoming chapters from scratch again. As always I appreciate the support, and can't wait for you guys to read what I have in store next!


	5. Chapter 5

“Onto the finale!” Morgana exclaimed as the two exited Shujin, hurriedly making their way towards the station heading to Yongen-Jaya.

_ “However, don’t try and force them out of it, especially Sumire and Futaba. They seem to be stuck the most right now, so take it slow with them.” _

Those words of caution rung in Ryuji’s mind; the entire group knew that Akira and Sumire were together along with the sibling bond he shared with Futaba and how much Akira had helped them over the past year

“Hey Ryuji, remember what Akira said?” Morgana perched his front paws onto Ryuji’s shoulders, looking over at the blonde as Ryuji stopped at the platform, waiting for the train to arrive.

“I was just thinking about that. How should we do this? I mean, I don’t want to be direct with them but…” Ryuji trailed off, creasing his brow in thought.

“But we need them to get out of this “spell”, right?” Morgana finished. “I don’t think the previous methods we did will work here; these two rely on Akira the most, so I doubt our words alone will snap them out of it.” 

“Then what should we do?” Ryuji looked over at Morgana, confusion crossing his face as the roar of the oncoming train grew louder. Morgana closed his eyes in thought.

“We need to stall for time,” he eventually let out, Ryuji giving him a confused look as the train rocketed past the two, slowing down to a stop and opening the doors for the passengers to get out. Ryuji hurriedly got onto the train once all the passengers got off, finding himself a seat right next to the door. 

“Morgana, what do you mean “stall for time”?” Ryuji finally asked the black cat, unable to hold back his curiosity. Morgana sighed as he looked up from Ryuji’s bag resting on the blonde’s lap.

“Akira is probably going through a palace right now; whether it’s truly his or the masses combined with his is irrelevant. Wouldn’t you think those that are affected by this would be present in the palace?” Morgana closed his eyes, letting his words sink into Ryuji’s head before continuing. “If I’m right about this, I can only imagine their cognitions didn’t take very kindly to Akira going through his own palace.”

“How does that affect what we’re doing, though?” Ryuji asked, although the idea sounded like something Akira would do. 

“Remember the cognitions of the people who held those letters in Shido’s palace?” Morgana asked, receiving a nod from Ryuji. “Shido’s cognition was so strong that he fused his cognition of those people with their shadows.”

“So what?” Ryuji questioned, head hurting from all the information Morgana was dumping onto him.

“Knowing Akira and how strong he is, the cognitions of the others are probably something similar,” Morgana stated. Looking up, he could see the confusion on Ryuji’s face. “Basically, anything we do out here will have an effect in there and vice versa. That’s what I meant by stall for time; their hearts are going to be too hard for us to break into by ourselves, so we have to wait for Akira to break through to them both.”

Before Ryuji could respond, the door to his right opened; their conversation had lasted all the way to the Yongen-Jaya station. As he got off the train, the feeling of unrest took hold in his stomach again. He could tell the same happened with Morgana, an “urk!” coming from his bag as he grabbed his stomach. ‘Damn it! Why the hell is this happening now?!’ Ryuji screamed in his mind, forcing himself to keep walking forwards, dragging his feet over to the nearest escalator. 

“Ryuji… you feel it too, right?” Morgana said through gritted teeth, poking his head out of the bag. 

“Yeah… just what the hell is going on? Is this ‘cause of the will of the masses too?” Ryuji asked, feeling a headache forming in his mind.

“That has to be it,” Morgana muttered as Ryuji stumbled onto the platform at the end of the escalator, putting his hand on a nearby wall to steady himself. Sweat began falling from Ryuji’s face, eyes widening in fear as red hot pain shot throughout his entire body. Then, as suddenly as the pain began, it disappeared from the two.

“Wh-what the hell?” Ryuji gasped, his body still tight from the torment his body was in not a second earlier. His gaze shot around the area; he was a level above the train station, the tunnel breaking off into two paths: one to his left and one in front of him. Ryuji’s body instinctively turned to the left; over the past year he had taken this exact route hundreds of times walking over to Leblanc, so his body practically moved on it’s own as his face scrunched up into confusion.

“Ryuji, is it gone for you too?” Morgana asked, placing his paws onto the blonde’s shoulder. Ryuji turned his head and nodded; ‘Why the hell did it disappear so suddenly?’ he thought to himself. “It’s probably something similar to Maruki’s time limit before the real world and mementos fused; only this time, I think we have until the end of the day,” Morgana’s voice was filled with dread, sending the two into an unbearable silence. Before they knew it, they were out in the open.

“Morgana, wasn’t the sun still out when we got onto the train?” Ryuji asked, looking up at the dark clouds rolling above Tokyo as he slowly walked towards Sojiro’s house at the center of Yongen.

“The will of the masses is growing stronger, we need to hurry up Ryuji!” Morgana yelled into Ryuji’s ear. Without any further questions, Ryuji broke out into a full on sprint, weaving in and out of the few bystanders nearby as he practically flew through the streets. In under two minutes Ryuji made it to the Residential District as he continued running, going past Leblanc and towards the house where Futaba and Sumire were at.

“Alright… we’re here…” Ryuji panted, putting his hands on his knees while trying to catch his breath. He looked up at the house; Sojiro was probably back at Leblanc, and he had snuck in multiple times when the phantom thieves were attempting to change Futaba’s heart, so he wasn’t at all worried about that. Taking one final deep breath, Ryuji straightened up and approached the door. Putting his hand on the doorknob, he pulled the door open and took a step inside when an unexpected sound reached his ears. “Hey, do you hear that Morgana?” Ryuji asked frankly. To him, it sounded like… crying. A look of horror crossed the two’s faces as they looked over at each other, both coming to the same conclusion: it was coming from Sumire.

“We have to hurry, Ryuji!” Morgana exclaimed as Ryuji slammed the front door shut behind him, rushing towards Futaba’s room as fast as he possibly could. As he approached the door with a “Do not Enter” sticker, he grabbed the handle and ripped the door open.

The sight inside of Futaba’s room was… unpleasant, to put it mildly. Futaba was in front of her computer, face on her pillow which rested on her desk, clearly exhausted by something. That something, Ryuji and Morgana found out, was Sumire, who was curled up on Futaba’s bed, sobbing and calling out for Akira. Ryuji ran over to her immediately, while Morgana jumped onto the bed.

“Hey Sumire, Sumire! What’s wrong? Please stop crying and tell us what’s wrong… please?” Morgana pleaded with her, but it was no use. She continued ignoring the cat as her sobs somehow got even louder.

“She accused me of trying to steal Akira away from her,” Futaba’s voice rang above the sobs. Ryuji and Morgana turned to face her as her chair swiveled around, revealing small scratch marks on her arms and face. Ryuji and Morgana looked at the marks on Futaba before seeing her eyes; they were completely white.

“You… two fought?” Morgana asked, seeing similar marks on Sumire. Futaba nodded her head before sniffing the air, nose pointed directly at Ryuji.

“Uhhh, what’s up Futaba?” Ryuji asked, backing up slightly; she had a scary look in her eyes as she stared at him.

“Ryuji, you smell like Akira-senpai. Were you with him earlier today?” A breaking voice called from Ryuji’s left. Ryuji turned around, seeing Sumire staring at him as well with the same terrifying look in her white eyes.

‘Shit shit shit shit,’ Ryuji’s mind was racing as he thought up a lie to tell the two. “Uh, ye-yeah I was. We were just playing some video games though, sorry to have taken his time,” Ryuji lied, letting out a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head.

“So Akira-senpai would rather be with you than me…?” Sumire emotionlessly said, her eyes piercing into Ryuji’s as she turned her body towards him.

“So, you’re the reason he wasn’t responding to my texts?” Futaba asked, eyes also boring into Ryuji’s.

The two got up from where they were sitting and faced Ryuji, their eyes showing multiple emotions: pain, loneliness; rage. They took a step towards the blond teen as he took a step back towards the door, hands in front of him as he felt his sweat running down his back.

“Uh, Mo-Morgana? A little help?” Ryuji stuttered as the two continued their zombie-like shamble towards him, backing him into a corner of the room.

* * *

Joker took a deep breath as he stared at the ornate wooden door in front of him; this was it. He knew Sumire and Futaba were inside along with the ruler of the palace, but he pushed aside the unease within his mind as he opened the door.

The name “Great Hall” could barely describe what Joker was seeing. A huge room was in front of him with an impossibly long table covered in beautifully crafted china and a white tablecloth covering it spanning the entire room. The ceiling was higher than any other room in the palace, much higher than Kamoshida’s throne room, but the chandeliers hung just as low as the previous rooms. Numerous paintings hung on the walls, all of the Phantom Thieves defeating the main targets from last year: Kamoshida, Madarame, Kaneshiro, Wakaba’ cognition, Okumura, Sae, Shido, and even Yaldabaoth. There was one painting of their time in Maruki’s palace, and it was the fight against Sumire’s berserk persona. It was titled “King and Queen”. Joker paused; why that time? He shook his head, knowing that he needed to get to the other side of the room. Seeing how big the room was, Joker threw out his grappling hook, not even entertaining the idea of running the whole way. As the hook reached a chandelier on the other side of the room, Joker jumped onto the table before kicking off into the air, reeling himself towards the end of the room. Closing his eyes as he felt himself fly through the air, Joker released the grapple from the chandelier, spinning around mid air before landing in front of a golden throne bespeckled with numerous jewels. 

“Halt, doppelganger!” An all too familiar voice called from behind Joker. His heart dropped inside his chest, eyes widening as dread pulsed throughout his body. Joker grit his teeth; ‘I need to be strong!’ he screamed internally at himself before slowly turning to see three figures in front of him. Futaba’s shadow was in her phantom thief outfit except, just with the other thieves, was pure white instead of it’s normal color. She wasn’t wearing a helmet like the others, wearing nothing as she stared daggers at Joker. Sumire’s shadow was in a beautiful white dress flowing well behind her with a gorgeous crown made of crystals sitting atop her head.

Joker tore his eyes off the shadow as he looked directly between the two; he was staring at himself. Or at least a cognition of himself, because it was clothed in a magnificent white suit with golden cuffs. The gloves and mask it was wearing were also golden, with white accenting the area around it’s eyes. To Joker’s surprise, the cognition opened its mouth to speak. “So, you have decided to go against the wishes of the masses, of your teammates,” the cognition calmly spoke, it’s voice replicating Joker’s but was slightly lower in pitch.

“I made my decision a long time ago, when I fought that fake god and Dr. Maruki. I won’t throw away the world we fought for!” Joker exclaimed, letting Paradise Lost slide down his sleeve and into his right hand. The cognition chuckled and brought his hand up, motioning for Sumire and Futaba to move forward. 

“Such determination! However, can you hold that same conviction against the ones you hold dearest?” The cognition chuckled to himself as Shadow Sumire and Futaba stepped in front of him; Sumire’s shadow brought her sword in front of her, pointing directly at Joker’s heart while light surrounded Futaba, lifting her off the ground until she was high up in the air. With a large flash, Prometheus occupied the space Futaba’s shadow previously was, only the colors were swapped from black to white. Joker stared at the girl in front of him; he could see the fear within her eyes, the pain of being separated from him. He couldn’t take it anymore; he needed to reach out to her.

“Sumire! Futaba! It’s me, Akira!” Joker shouted at the two, taking off his mask, revealing newly formed tear streaks running down his face. Sumire’s shadow continued moving forward, stopping only a few feet in front of Joker with her blade pointed at his face. “Sumire, please don’t do this… not again!” Joker pleaded. To his surprise Shadow Sumire reacted ever so slightly, shaking from the desperation in his voice, before her body stilled.

“You are nothing but a fake… my true love would never leave me for so long, would never prioritize someone else over me!” Sumire’s shadow shrieked as she thrusted forward at Joker’s face, the former leader of the Phantom Thieves barely dodging as steel grazed his cheek. Joker gritted his teeth at the comment, emotions boiling deep within himself. Anger, despair, regret; ‘This isn’t her, Akira,’ Joker lied to himself, knowing full well that a shadow is a reflection of one's own heart. Even though Sumire was being controlled by the Will of the Masses, Joker knew that these feelings were Sumire’s. 

“Listen to me, Sumi,” Joker began, the nickname for Sumire making her freeze for a split second. However, as Joker was about to speak his heart, a blast of energy came streaking down towards him, sending him flying backwards into the wall behind the throne. 

“Urgh…” Joker groaned as he pushed himself up from the indent of him on the wall; the blast didn’t do anything major, but it only added onto the lasting injuries from the previous battle. ‘So, Prometheus can shoot shit at me now, huh?’ Joker thought to himself, staring up at the white persona with a giant hole in the center, clearly where the blast came from. Before he had a chance to speak, Joker had to dive out of the way from a barrage of energy blasts from Futaba’s ultimate persona, the white flooring that he previously stood on being destroyed. Tumbling back onto his feet, Joker’s eyes met with his beloved’s shadow’s, who had brought up her sword and charged once again at him. Joker flipped his knife upwards, flicking away Sumire’s attack, causing her to run past him, before ripping off his mask.

“Kali!” As he screamed out the persona’s name, a red skinned persona with six arms appeared above Joker, a sword in each hand. In a flurry of slashes, Kali stopped the barrage of energy from Prometheus from reaching Joker. “Return!” Before Shadow Sumire could get another attack in, Joker flipped backwards, landing on the edge of the long table to gain some distance, mask returning to his face.

“Vanadis!” The shadow-cognition hybrid shouted, her body convulsing as light surrounded her. Joker kept his eyes focused on the light as it grew bigger and bigger, until it burst out. Shielding his eyes with his arm, Joker could sense a powerful attack heading his way. Jumping off the table, he heard a loud “bang” right where he was standing. As the light died down, he lowered his arm to see Vanadis clothed in white floating before him; the persona’s eyes were wild, just as Cendrillon’s eyes were when Maruki used Azathoth’s power on Sumire.

“Sumire! Futaba! I know you can hear me! Stop this now!” Joker roared at the shadows, losing his composure as the painful memory from the beginning of the year flashed through his mind. Tears began rolling from the eye holes in his mask as he stared at the personae of the two people he held closest to his heart. “Stop being controlled and come back to me!” The two shadows stopped, Vanadis looking down at the pained look on Joker’s face. However, the shadow lifted it’s hand, light gathering within it as Prometheus began charging energy within itself again. 

Joker threw his left arm out, his grappling hook embedding itself into the wall to his left. The area beneath exploded with light energy, barely catching his right foot. Joker grunted in pain as he soared towards the wall, a beam of Almighty energy following closely behind him. Approaching the wall, Joker released the grapple from the wall and turned middair, bracing his injured foot as he kicked off the wall. “Dammit!” Joker cursed as he landed onto the ground, running as fast as he could from Prometheus’s Almighty beam. However, he was limping so the beam quickly caught up to him, threatening to obliterate him. 

“Akira, don’t you dare lose!” Joker’s eyes widened as he heard Sojiro’s voice within his head, the Hierophant Arcana bursting with power. A smirk crossed Joker’s face as his hand flew up to his mask, ripping it off.

“Kohryu!” He screamed. A flash of blue flames surrounded the area in front of him before a massive white dragon appeared before him. The ultimate persona of the Hierophant Arcana flashed its eyes at the beam, psychic energy firing from the orbs it held in its many claws. The beam of Almighty energy disappeared, leaving Joker and Kohryu staring at the personae of Sumire and Futaba. The two personae shook slightly, Joker saw, at the sight of Kohryu. ‘One more push!’ Joker screamed in his mind.

“Fight back, dammit!” 

* * *

“Uh, Sumire, Futaba?” Morgana started, walking to the edge of the bed to try and get their attention. It was no use; they continued to walk forward towards Ryuji, muttering “Akira” and “he’s mine” over and over to themselves.

Ryuji was completely backed into Futaba’s door, with the two within arm’s reach of him. Without warning, they both took a swipe at his face, creating two scratches across his face, blood beginning to trickle down his face.

“Ow! What the hell?!” Ryuji exclaimed, anger crossing his eyes before fear replaced it again upon seeing the bloodlust in the two girl’s eyes.

“You were forcing him away from me, weren’t you? You’re trying to take him away from me like everyone else!” Sumire screeched, shooting her hands towards his neck.

“Whoa!” Ryuji yelped as he caught her hands, terror in his eyes. ‘This is bad!’ Ryuji’s mind screamed as he fought back Sumire. Futaba said nothing as her hands also shot towards Ryuji’s neck, in which he ducked under barely. Ryuji let go of Sumire’s hands, simultaneously rolling onto the bed to make some distance from them. Morgana jumped out of the way as Ryuji stood on top of the bed, staring down at the two crazed girls.

“Think of Akira, you guys! Is this what he would want from you two?” Ryuji shouted at the two.

“How would you know what Akira wants from me!” Sumire shouted back, her voice cracking as she whipped her body around to face Ryuji. Futaba did the same, lunging at Ryuji’s ankles. Ryuji jumped back on the bed, barely avoiding hitting his head on the ceiling.

“There’s no way he wants this! Think about how he feels, dammit!” Ryuji screamed as the two girls were in the motion of jumping on the bed. They collided with each other, both stumbling away from each other.

“Akira and I are basically siblings! You’re trying to steal my brother away from me!” Futaba snapped at her fellow redhead, her hand shooting out at Sumire’s face before stopping entirely. Sumire also froze up; Ryuji instantly knew the look in their eyes: realization.

“Akira?” The two whispered, barely reaching Ryuji’s ears. ‘Wait, what’s happening?’ He questioned before remembering what Morgana said about stalling. ‘Akira’s probably fighting them right now!’

“You two, please calm down!” Ryuji shouted at them, the thought of Akira invigorating him; his voice caused the two to turn their heads to face him. Their eyes were turning back to their normal color, but there was still plenty of white in their pupils. “Futaba, we all know how much Akira means to you,” Ryuji turned to the small teen. “You guys are practically brother and sister now, but you have to understand that he has his own life to live. That doesn’t mean he won’t make time for you; he will, you just have to give him space.” The girl in question stared at Ryuji, eyes wide as all white disappeared entirely.

“Sumire,” Ryuji had slid off the bed now, looking his best friend's girlfriend in the eyes. “Akira loves you, so much more than you know.. He’s done a lot for all of us, sure, but for you… he would run across Japan just to be with you.” Ryuji could see the recognition in Sumire’s eyes; ‘just a bit more!’ he thought.

“Please… think about how he’s feeling, how much it pains him to see you not being Sumire, the one who stole his heart!” Ryuji exclaimed, putting his hands in front of him in a pleading motion; everyone looked at him in surprise, with even himself in shock by how eloquent he could be. Sumire stared at the blonde for what felt like an eternity, any traces of white slowly shrinking into nothing as tears began welling in her eyes.

“Ryuji…” the two girls said together, with no aggression present in their voice. “I’m… I’m so… so sorry!” The two rushed forward at Ryuji, this time wrapped their arms around him as tears began flowing down their cheeks. Ryuji stood there surprised for a second, before returning the hug.

“Hey now, there’s no need for that. Besides, the one really in trouble right now is Akira,” Ryuji reassured them. They both broke from the hug as they stared at Ryuji, eyes full of concern.

“Senpai?”

“Akira?”

Ryuji opened his mouth to tell them about Akira’s situation, but Morgana stepped forward.

“Here Ryuji, I’ll tell them what’s going on. You just relax.”

“Thanks, Morgana,” Ryuji smiled as he put his head against the wall as Morgana filled in the two girls, Futaba sitting in her chair and Sumire sitting next to the cat on the bed.

...

“He asked Maruki to do that?” Sumire attempted to raise her voice, but was unable to get above her normal voice. Fear crossed her face as she remembered what had happened earlier that year with Maruki; she knew that Maruki was no longer trying to change reality, but the thought of Akira going to him for help scared her.

“We have to get to Leblanc! We have to help him!” The two girls exclaimed. Futaba and Sumire tried getting up, but they were exhausted, falling back onto their respective seats.

“D-Damn it! If we don’t hurry, Akira will--!” Futaba began, before Ryuji reached out his hand to her and Sumire. They both looked up to see his determined face as he grinned at them both.

“Let’s go; let’s save him together,” Ryuji stood firm as both of the girls took his hand and pulled themselves up, using him to stabilize themselves. “You girls ready to meet with the others?” Ryuji asked, the two releasing him as Morgana jumped into his bag, taking a step outside Futaba’s room.

“Yes!” They both said in unison, following Ryuji as the four of them exited Sojiro’s house into the outside.

* * *

“Shit!” Joker yelled as Vanadis punctured Kohryu’s skin with her bladed hand, the dragon roaring in pain as the section of its body began phasing in and out of reality. Immense pressure came from the dragon, blowing Vanadis away from it as another barrage of energy came from Prometheus. With a swipe of its tail, Kohryu deflected the blasts, the blasts destroying even more of the central table as they flew to the other side of the room. Broken chandeliers as well as destroyed paintings covered the floor all around from the two shadows attacking Joker. ‘I can’t keep going like this; I need to fight ba-’ Joker began thinking before seeing the two shadows freeze up in front of him again, but this time for longer.

“Did those two do it?” Joker muttered to himself as Prometheus lowered to the ground, disappearing in a flash of light, leaving Futaba’s shadow next to Vanadis. Vanadis looked over at the girl, a flash of recognition crossing the shadow’s face as it touched down to the ground. With the same flash of light, Sumire’s persona disappeared, leaving Sumire’s shadow standing next to Futaba’s.

“Senpai…”

“Akira…” 

Joker heard from the two shadows in front of him, seeing tears falling from their eyes as they looked down at the ground. His heart shattered at the sight and, without thinking, slowly walked up to them and brought them in for a hug. “You two had me so worried; please, return to your true selves and come help me finish this,” Joker whispered to the two shadows, Shadow Futaba nodding as she followed his commands. However, Shadow Sumire remained in his arms, her own arms down at her side. Her body was trembling as her tears fell onto Joker’s shoulder; Joker squeezed her harder, momentarily forgetting his own cognition in the room.

“S-senpai, I… I’m so sorry!” Shadow Sumire cried out, wrapping her arms around Joker as she began weeping into his chest. Joker moved his hand up to her head, holding her close to him.

“Sumi, it’s alright,” Joker softly reassured, giving the shadow a small smile as she looked up at him. Removing his hand from her head, Joker quickly wiped away the tears on her face. The shadow only stared at him before slowly nodding her head, disappearing and returning to her real self. Joker was alone once again, or that’s what he thought when he suddenly heard clapping and two sets of footsteps. Looking up, Joker saw his cognition walking over the destroyed table towards him, slowly clapping his hands with a devious grin on his face.

Joker gasped as he saw the owner of the second set of footsteps: none other than Goro Akechi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said everything that I wanted to say in the last chapter's notes, but if there are any errors please let me know and I'll fix it when I get the chance!


	6. Chapter 6

“Morgana-senpai, what do you mean by “the others”?” Sumire asked the black cat as the four made their way towards Leblanc.

“The other thieves were all stuck within the will of the masses control, so we had to snap them out of it. You two were the last ones, so we’re meeting at Leblanc to discuss the next steps,” Morgana said, popping his head out of the bag to look at Sumire.

“Morgana, what if they didn’t list-” Ryuji began before Morgana lightly swiped at the back of his head.

“We can’t be thinking about that right now. Either way, look who all is here!” Morgana exclaimed as the four turned the corner, four figures immediately coming into view. All the rest of the former Phantom Thieves were in front of Leblanc, seemingly deep in conversation when they noticed the four make their approach.

“Ryuji! Morgana! Sumire and Futaba!” Ann exclaimed, running towards them with the other three following close behind. As they stopped just in front of Ryuji, pained looks crossed their faces, the four unable to look up at Ryuji.

“Hey, what’s with the grim looks?” Ryuji asked, a frown crossing his own. Yusuke was the first one to look up at the blonde.

“Ryuji, we betrayed Akira!” The bluenette cried out, tears beginning to form in the eyes of the four in front of Ryuji as well as Sumire’s and Futaba’s eyes. “We let something else control our hearts once again while Akira suffered alone; how could I possibly stay calm about this?!”

“Yusuke…” Morgana muttered sympathetically; earlier this year the thieves all but accepted a reality cooked up by Dr. Maruki, leaving Akira by himself fighting for their true reality. They had all promised him to fight against that reality, but only two kept their promises, and it was clearly weighing on the other Thieves.

“I… I even promised him that I would never lose my way again…” Ann trailed off, tears falling from her cheeks. She looked up at Ryuji, blue eyes meeting brown. “What kind of friend am I if I can’t even keep a stupid, simple promise?!” As Ryuji opened his mouth to respond, Makoto took a step forward next to Yusuke.

“After everything he’s done for me… all the things he helped me with… I betray his trust again?” Makoto’s red eyes stared at the ground in horror. “I’m supposed to be the mature one, but I’m nothing but a puerile child!”

“Akira gave me my strength to move on from my father’s death,” Haru began, taking a step forward next to Makoto. “He has shown nothing but kindness towards me, supporting me through my issues, but…” she trailed off, tears falling faster from her face. “But I’ve done nothing but throw that kindness away!”

“Guys, stop that!” Morgana exclaimed, causing everyone’s eyes to shoot up to him. Sumire and Futaba were about to say something, but Morgana heard enough of their self pity. “What would Akira say to you if he saw you like this? The fact that you guys are standing here, crying about how you betrayed him shows the exact opposite!” 

“Morgana?” Ann sniffled, not bothering to wipe away her tears freely rolling down her red cheeks.

“You have to realize something: Akira sees you all as his equal, as teammates. It is true that he’s special and an amazing person, but he’s still human,” Morgana lectured the torn teens, Ryuji letting a small smile onto his face as he silently stood there. “Right, Ryuji?” The blonde nodded, everyone’s eyes now on him.

“Morgana is absolutely right, you guys. Sure, Akira may have powers way above our own, but he still needed us, relied on us. He doesn’t say it often, but without us he wouldn’t have gotten to this point,” Ryuji scanned the faces of the Thieves, seeing something new within their eyes besides sadness: determination. Suddenly, he felt a raindrop fall on his forehead, causing him to look up and gasp. The clouds had grown darker, and Ryuji could tell that it was about to pour down on them any moment now. “Guys, we need to get inside now!” Ryuji exclaimed, pushing Sumire and Futaba in front of him as the thieves made their way into Leblanc. 

“Welco- Oh, it’s you guys,” Sojiro’s voice rang over them as they stepped inside. “‘They’ll be here within the hour’ my ass! That damn doctor lied to us…” Sojiro muttered angrily as he made his way from behind the counter. At that moment the Thieves collectively noticed another person in the cafe: Sae Niijima was sitting at the counter drinking coffee.

“Why do you all look surprised? Sojiro and I have become quite close after becoming your accomplices, you know,” Sae gave the thieves a smirk before finishing her coffee, fully turning her body towards the thieves. Ryuji stared at her eyes, noticing there wasn’t a hint of white in her pupils. He looked over at Sojiro; nothing there either.

“Do you two know where Akira-senpai is?” Sumire spoke out, her heart not able to take the uncertainty of her loved one’s fate any longer. She stared directly at Sojiro, eyes beginning to water as the man stared back at her, a surprised look in his eyes as he noticed the determined but pained look in her red orbs. He then scanned the others around Sumire and saw the exact same look in their eyes. He closed his eyes and let a grin on his face, chuckling at himself.

“Heh, the kid’s really lucky to have you guys backing him up. Here, let me take you to him,” Sojiro turned his back, Sae standing up next to him.

“I’ll come to; it’s been a while since we last checked up on him, Sojiro,” she said before the two began walking towards the steps. Sumire knew where they were going and, without thinking, burst out in front of them and rushed up the stairs. 

“Wha- hey, Sumire-san!” Sojiro yelled at the red haired girl, everyone jogging after her up the stairs.

“Senpai!” Sumire gasped as she saw her beloved’s body; a distressed look was on his face as sweat dripped down his face. He was squirming uncomfortably on the bed, his eyes shut tight as if he was going through the worst nightmare imaginable. Sumire ran towards the edge of the room as the rest of the group caught up to her, all gasping at the sight of Akira. Sumire slid down onto her knees, barely wincing as the wood left slight scrapes on her legs as she reached a shaky hand towards Akira’s face. As she touched his cheek, she winced, pulling her hand backwards as a familiar feeling coursed throughout her body.

“Sumire-san! What’s wrong?” Haru asked, moving towards the kneeling girl. Everyone followed suit, surrounding Akira’s bed except for Sojiro and Sae who stood behind the Thieves.

“Wh-when I touched Senpai’s face, I felt the sensation of entering into the Metaverse…” Sumire said, her eyes still locked on Akira’s face.

“Uh guys, you see what I’m seeing too, right?” Ryuji asked timidly, fear filling his eyes as he stared at Akira’s body. His body was covered in a white robe with a white and golden suit underneath, all shimmering in and out of reality itself.

“What’s happening to him?” Yusuke breathed out, disbelief filling his voice. “Why is he asleep throughout all this?”

“Maruki swung by here earlier; Akira wanted the doc to do something for him, and apparently this is it,” Morgana informed the group, his eyes landing on Akira’s body. “But to think the distortion would have spread this much; we don’t have much time left!”

“Whoa, the cat’s amped up!” Sojiro exclaimed, taken aback as Morgana jumped onto the bed. “Well, it makes sense; seeing Akira like this is just… horrifying, to put it mildly,” Sojiro ended, looking down at Akira.

“So, what are you guys going to do?” Sae questioned the thieves before turning directly to Sumire, whose focus was still on Akira. “Sumire-san, you mentioned something about the Metaverse when you touched Akira?” Sumire simply nodded, not able to tear her eyes off of Akira’s face. ‘He looks so pained right now. He’s probably fighting for our sake right now while I was feeling sorry for myself! What kind of girlfriend am I if I can’t even be there when he needs me the mo-’ Sumire’s thoughts were cut short as Ryuji’s hand fell onto her shoulder. For the first time since they got up into the attic, she looked away from Akira, staring up at Ryuji. He smiled down at her, determination filling his brown eyes.

“Hey, we don’t have time feeling sorry for ourselves. He needs us right now; he needs  _ you _ right now, Sumire!” Ryuji softly exclaimed, shock covering Sumire’s face.

“How did yo-” She began before being cut off again.

“You make what you’re thinking really obvious. Although that’s not an entirely bad thing,” Ryuji looked over at Morgana, who grinned at his own words from earlier that day. Sumire, after a few seconds of shock, nodded her head and returned her gaze onto Akira’s face. However, she felt nothing but determination within her now, all her self pity disappearing.

“If you felt the same feeling of entering the Metaverse when touching Akira, then that's what we need to do. The Meta-nav isn’t back, so this is our only option,” Makoto said, moving next to Sumire, staring down at her unconscious leader. The rest of the Thieves followed her lead, all of them surrounding Akira.

“Everyone ready?” Ryuji asked, receiving nods from the rest of the Thieves. “Alright, here we come Aki-” 

“Wait, Ryuji!” Morgana yelped, stopping the Thieves from placing their hands onto Akira. “This is a mission we’re doing, right? Everyone remember their code names?” Morgana asked, the Thieves all grinning from his question. “Here, I’ll start; Mona!”

“Skull!” Ryuji exclaimed, punching his left hand with his right.

“Panther!” Ann pumped her arm in the air, winking at no one.

“Fox!” Yusuke flourished his arms in front of him, a cocky grin resting on his face.

“Queen!” Makoto said, a steely look in her eyes.

“Noir!” Haru gently bounced up, excitement in her eyes. The room went silent as everyone stared at Sumire, who was putting her entire focus on Akira.

“Sumire?” Sojiro’s gruff voice broke her out of her trance, causing her to look around as everyone grinned at her. 

“Oh! Vi-Violet!” She said with a surprised look on her face, looking down sheepishly.

“And I’m Oracle!” Futaba shouted before holding a finger up. “And remember, Akira’s Joker!”

“Heh, like I could ever forget that name!” Skull grinned, turning towards his former leader and hovered his right hand above Akira’s chest. Everyone followed suit until they all had their hands above him.

“Ready gang?” Morgana called out, everyone nodding their heads. “It’s showtime!” Morgana attempted to mimic Akira’s voice as everyone’s hands fell onto the black haired teen; within five seconds they had disappeared, leaving Sojiro and Sae alone in the attic.

“Goodluck, everyone,” Sae said, staring down at Akira’s body. A part of her wanted to go with them, but she knew she would only get in the way.

“You better save the kid, everyone. I can’t do it myself, so I’m counting on you guys!” Sojiro exclaimed, bringing his hand up to his eyes to wipe away the single tear forming. Turning around to go back downstairs, he remembered that Sae was up there when he saw her in the corner of his eye.

“Sae-san, do you want to stay a while longer to wait for them? Or do you want me to call you when they’re done?” Sojiro asked the silver haired woman. 

“Hm…” Sae trailed off, pulling out her phone to see if she had anything tonight or tomorrow. By some miracle both days were free of trials. “I think I’ll keep you company here, Sojiro,” Sae nodded towards the older man. Sojiro gave her a warm smile as he walked past her, leading her downstairs to make her some more coffee.

* * *

“Shit! Take cover!” Skull yelled out. As soon as the group entered Akira's palace, they were bombarded with a severe thunderstorm. Lightning was cracking down all around them, with the surrounding buildings starting to crumble from the blasts of electricity along with the heavy downpour. The group found a side door near them, and rushed over to get inside. Skull flung open the door and ran inside, followed by the rest of the thieves.

“That… that sucked…” Panther panted, trying to ring out her hair of water. The girls followed suit, with Morgana shaking his entire body, water flying everywhere.

“Mona! At least do that somewhere else!” Oracle yelled as the water from Mona’s fur hit her face, covering her goggles with drops of water. 

“Agreed. Anyways, Mona, may I ask you a question?” Fox called out to the cat, shaking his large sleeves to get out the water in them.

“What’s up?” Mona responded, shaking his cartoonishly large head of any water away from the girls.

“Palaces mirror the heart, correct?”

“That’s right. Why do you ask?” 

“It’s just that the thunderstorm outside worries me; Akira was already struggling as it was, but this shows that he may be in more turmoil than we originally thought,” Fox responded to the question. “Speaking of surroundings, where are we?” he added on, looking around at the room they had just entered. The room was long, putting the church in Kamoshida’s palace to shame, with the walls being pure white with a gold trim running all around along with gold and silver chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The group all frowned as they noticed multiple tables flipped over, some being completely destroyed with some parts of the otherwise immaculate floor and walls destroyed.

As he scanned the room, Mona spotted two shadows, both in white armor that reflected the lighting of the chandeliers.

“Quick! Hide!” He hissed, as the team dove behind two flipped over tables.

“Wait a sec, why are these flipped over in the firs—Argh!” Skull began, but was cut off by a quick jab to his side by Queen. He looked over at her in shock, but simply followed where she was pointing. “Got it!” he whispered, ducking behind a table as the two shadows made their way to the center of the room.

**“So, those thieves decided to come here as well,”** one of the shadows mentioned, while the other looked around the room.

**“I can’t believe that we mistook that fake for our king. He really did a number on the Royal Kitchen…”**

“He must be talking about Joker!” Noir whispered, getting nods from the others.

**“Who was it that fought him here? The floor’s all burnt up, but those tables over there are all frozen over.”**

**“It was probably Lady Ann and Sir Yusuke. They must have beaten the intruder pretty bad if the room looks like this. I’m going to go back to the entrance, you get this cleaned up!”** as the shadow finished that, they began making their way towards the hidden thieves.

“Alright guys, you ready to go?” Mona asked, pulling out his scimitar. They all nodded at the cat, brandishing their respective weapons. Mona turned towards Violet.

“Violet, I’m nominating you to be our impromptu leader,” the cat announced to the girl’s surprise.

“Wah-- m-me?” Violet stammered, but the rest of the thieves nodded at her in approval.

“You and Joker are the closest, so fine by me,” Skull gave her a giant grin.

“Also, we heard that he gave you some tips, so let’s see what you can do!” Mona added, letting a grin cross his face. Violet also let a small smile onto her face as she remembered that day vividly; she wasn’t sure what came over her, but she just asked him about being the leader.

_ “Why do you ask?” Akira asked as he gave Sumire a cup of coffee. They had just come back from a long day in Mementos, but Sumire wanted to spend some more time with Akira. _

_ “I guess… I guess because you’ve been at this the longest, and you also seem so calm during battle…” Sumire looked down at her cup, picking it up and taking a sip. She smiled; ‘Delicious as always.’ _

_ “You’re also so strong and brave; there’s no reason you’re the leader,” Sumire added. _

_ Akira shook his head and walked from his place behind the counter to a stool next to Sumire and sat down. _

_ “Strength and braveness do play a role, sure, but they aren’t everything,” Akira started. Sumire looked at him and leaned onto the table, eager to learn more. _

_ “Oho! Someone’s interested, are we?” Akira teased Sumire, getting the flustered stuttering and beet red face he loved so dearly. Akira smirked at her and let her calm down before continuing. _

_ “Here, I’ll give you my notes to look over as I tell you my thought process,” Akira stated as he reached into his blazer, throwing a small notebook onto the table. _

“Violet!” Mona hissed. Violet snapped out of her thoughts and peeked around the corner; the shadow was getting closer and closer to them. “Are you okay being our impromptu leader?” Mona asked again.

Violet took a deep breath, and stared back at her teammates, eyes all on her. At that moment, she could’ve sworn she heard Joker’s confident voice inside her head.  _ “You can do it.” _ Violet nodded her head, determination suddenly flowing through her body.

“Alright. Mona, Panther, Queen and I will engage them; the rest of you stay back and watch the entrances in case other enemies appear,” Violet gave orders, a clear image of Joker doing the same in her mind’s eye. The four that were to fight took up their ambush spot while the others moved towards the ends of the tables.

The shadow was almost upon them when Violet burst out from behind the table and jumped onto the closer shadow’s back.

“Show me your true form!” Violet yelled out Joker’s famous line, ripping the shadow’s mask off. She jumped off of the shadow, leaving it to collapse into itself, leaving a puddle of black liquid which exploded into a Black Frost, Bugs, and a High Pixie

The other three quickly joined Violet’s side, surrounding the surprised shadows.

“Be careful you four! These guys are special!” Oracle warned. “Hm?”

“What’s wrong Oracle?” Queen called out, eyes focused on the Black Frost in between the Bugs and High Pixie.

“This reading… I’m getting a reading similar to Joker’s from these two, but that’s impossible! I sense Joker deep within the palace, with two other readings!” Oracle responded from within her persona, Al Azif, already high above them.

Violet stared down at the three shadows, a slight shiver going down her spine. Even she could tell they were special, but couldn’t place why or how they were. She frowned at the High Pixie; ‘Didn’t Senpai say that she was one of his weaker personas? Why is it here?’ She questioned herself before shaking her head. ‘Can’t think of that right now,’ she thought as ice particles swirled around Black Frost.

  
“Panther, be careful!” Violet shouted. The girl jumped backwards just in time as an icicle shot up from the ground, branching out to form a tree made of ice. Panther relaxed slightly, thinking she dodged it, just as the tree exploded, chunks of ice hitting Panther straight on. The girl fell onto her back, eyes barely open as the Black Frost prepared another ice attack.

“Panther! Someone heal her!” Violet shouted as her breathing quickened; she was beginning to panic, but Akira’s words rang in her mind.

_ “As the leader, your number one priority is to utilize your party's strengths and prevent their weaknesses from being exploited. The enemy will inflict damage to the party, that much is guaranteed; it’s your job to make sure the least amount of damage is dealt.” _

“Diego!” Mona yelled, as a buff persona manifested behind him. He held a long rapier in his right hand with a black cape flowing behind him. “Diahran!” Green energy swirled around Panther, revitalizing her as she jumped up off the ground.

“Thanks!” She called over to Mona, the cat just nodding in response. 

‘It was a bad idea to bring Panther in… we have a strong ice user, a psychic user, and… a healer?,’ Violet thought to herself, not fully remembering what else High Pixie did. She admonished herself for choosing Panther and Queen to face their two weaknesses before Akira’s words cut through again.

_ “You will make mistakes, naturally. But it is what you do after the mistake that makes you a good or bad leader.” _

“Mona! You and I will stay in front of Queen and Panther!” Violet shouted out, the cat giving her a confused look for a second.

“Those two are weak against ice and psychic, which is what we’re up against. There’s no openings that I can see either, so we can’t have them fall back,” she explained. Mona simply nodded, the both of them taking a step in front of the two girls.

“Here, let me strengthen your defense!” Queen exclaimed behind Violet. “Marakukaja!” Dark blue energy swirled around the two in front as they felt their skin harden.

“And I’ll weaken their attack! Matarunda!” Panther shouted out as black and dark red energy hit the shadows.

As Violet and Mona formed their human shield, Bugs pulsed with pink energy swirling around it, psychic energy surrounding Violet before hitting her directly. Luckily, she saw the attack coming and put up her arms to defend herself. Along with the defense boost and attack debuff on the shadow, the attack barely did anything to her.

“Queen! Attack Bugs!” Violet commanded, her senior nodding as she ripped off her mask. A motorbike with a golden statue of an angel at the front rode straight towards Queen, the college student jumping onto her persona. The other three jumped away as Queen spun around in a tight circle, sending a wave of nuclear energy straight for Bugs. With the energy hitting the shadow directly, the shadow shot backwards, falling to the ground. 

“Do it again, Queen!” Mona shouted, the teen riding in a circle again aiming for High Pixie. To everyone’s surprise, Black Frost hopped in front of the attack, nullifying the attack immediately and ending Queen’s chain of attacks. 

“Huh?” Mona uttered as green energy swirled around Bugs, seemingly healing it all the way. “Did High Pixie just use Diarahan?” Before Mona could continue the train of thought, a wave of ice shot straight towards him from Black Frost.

“Argh!” Violet shouted in pain, jumping in front of Mona, the ice impaling her thigh, blood beginning to trickle down.

_ “The first priority when defeating enemies should always be the healer; the same works for them. Protect whoever your designated healer is, while targeting their healer.” _

“Thanks, Senpai…” Violet muttered, gritting her teeth from the sudden pain in her thigh. The ice had also hit her arms, but the cuts were nowhere near as severe. Mona quickly healed her with Diego, the ice harmlessly falling from her wounds to the ground. Thankfully the ice didn’t puncture too far, so only a slight scar was left on her thigh. “Thank you, Mona-senpai!” Violet nodded towards the cat, receiving a grin in return before returning their attention to the shadows.

“Violet, we have to find a way to get to High Pixie before the others!” Oracle called out. Violet nodded her head, racking her brain as energy surrounded Black Frost and Bugs. ‘What are they weak to again? Dammit, Senpai would know for su-’ Violet thoughts began before Akira’s advice cut her off.

_ “Ask Queen for help on striking enemy weaknesses; she’s our strategic advisor for a reason. If necessary, items are an efficient way to swing the tides of battle, causing useful status effects that you can exploit. Additionally, an enemy cannot cast a healing spell on a target if their vision is obscured, but offensive skills can be used anywhere if the user focuses.” _

“Queen!” Violet shouted for the previous student body leader. “Do we know their weaknesses?” Queen paused as she looked over at the two shadows, thinking about the interaction when she asked Joker about some of his persona’s weaknesses.

“Black Frost doesn’t have any weakness, but avoid using fire attacks! I recommend using physical skills to bring it down!” Queen called out behind her, back on the ground after recalling Agnes. “The other two are weak to nuclear attacks, so if I get an opening I’ll blast them away!” Queen shouted, a grin forming on her face.

An idea popped into Violet’s head as she reached into her pocket, feeling around for a flash grenade that Akira gave her towards the end of the discussion.

_ “Here, I’ll give you some items just in case if I’m not there, you’ll be prepared for a fight,” Akira told her, handing her a round orb filled with two mysterious substances inside. “Oh, this? Morgana never taught me how to make it, but I accidentally added some Red Phosphorus to a smokescreen instead of plant balm and accidentally blinded myself for a few seconds.”  _

“I have a plan,” Violet began, the three’s eyes on her as she divulged her idea, the shadows gathering energy for another attack. “Mona, take this stun grenade; on my mark, throw it at Black Frost’s eyes. Panther, when he does that, surround Bugs with pillars of fire to prevent it from targeting us. Queen will go in and knock Bugs and High Pixie down, then pass it off to me and I’ll hope for a critical hit against Black Frost. Ready?” Violet asked, handing the grenade to Mona. The three nodded their heads, Black Frost and Bugs about to discharge their energy at the four. 

“Take this!” Mona shouted, throwing the grenade at Black Frost’s face, the shadow recoiling as a bright flash of light shone directly in its face. 

“Celestine! Maragidyne!” Panther yelled as her persona, a pink skinned woman with long pigtails, with a dummy entangled in one strand with another one underneath her foot. Multiple pillars of fire shot out of the ground, surrounding Bugs entirely.

“Agnes!” Queen shouted, rocketing past the group as her persona surrounded her and itself with nuclear energy. “Nuclear ram!” Anges shot towards High Pixie and, with a jump into the air, pierced right through the shadow, destroying it instantly.

“Whoa…” Violet breathed, taken in by how beautiful and confident Queen looked atop Anges. The two seemed to be one as they shot towards the trapped Bugs, ignoring the fire around it as they destroyed it as well, leaving nothing but particles from the shadow.

“Violet, finish it off!” Queen shouted, racing towards the girl, nuclear energy no longer surrounding Anges. A grin covered Violet’s face as she lifted her right arm into the air, her and Queen’s hand connecting as she felt her power increase.

“Brave Step!” She shouted, ripping off her mask to reveal her evolved persona Ella in front of her; a crystalline woman clothed in a white wedding dress with a crown of flowers atop it’s head. She felt her blood boil as red energy surrounded her, her grin becoming (she hoped) Joker-esque as she pointed her hand at the still dazed Black Frost. “Masquerade!” At her command, Ella shot towards the vulnerable shadow with grace, white hot energy surrounding its legs. As Ella reached its target, it kicked twice upwards, both its legs making two huge gashes into the black snowman, making it stumble backwards. Seeing as the shadow was still alive, Violet’s body moved on its own, rushing towards the near dead shadow. Raising her blade, Violet sent a flurry of slashes in front of her, each finding its mark. With grace, she pulled back before plunging the Sword of Sinai into Black Frost’s chest. The shadow let out a pained roar before disappearing into smoke, the room instantly becoming peaceful compared to the chaos of battle.

“That was some nice teamwork you guys! Nice work!” Oracle announced as the four regrouped, noticeable tired but nowhere near exhausted from the relatively quick battle.

“Violet’s leadership was impressive. Honestly, if I didn’t know better, I would have guessed you to be older than me!” Queen lightly joked with the redhead, causing her to blush slightly from the compliment.

“It’s all thanks to Joker-senpai that I was able to do all that,” Violet responded, looking down sheepishly. “Also, I wasn’t anywhere near as impressive as you were, Queen…”

“What did you just say?” Queen looked at her in shock, the others beginning to approach the four with Oracle descending from Al Azif. “The way you handled that Black Frost was amazing!”

“But you looked so amazing on top of your persona! All I did was slash at it…” Violet said, self doubt seeping into her voice.

_ “Never compare yourself to the others. This isn’t necessarily a leadership tip, but a tip for you specifically; the way you battle is completely different than the others, having your own strengths and weaknesses.” _

Violet gasped at Akira’s words before smiling slightly, shaking her head free of any remaining self doubt. Queen smiled at her; she saw the look in the redhead’s eyes and knew that she was fine.

“Dude, that was awesome! You guys rocked!” Skull bounced ahead as they approached the door.

“You’re such a child, Skull,” Panther sighed, but couldn’t resist the smile creeping up on her face.

“Queen, the way you rocketed through those shadows with ease was so awesome! Was that a new move? Did you come up with it on the spot?” Oracle happily bounced around the former student council president, the girl in question looking embarrassed. Violet looked down at the ground, her smile lowering slightly but still remaining.

“Don’t think I’ll let you go either Violet!” Oracle announced, snapping Violet back to reality. “The way Ella danced towards Black Frost before kicking it was so cool! Then you went in for the final hits and went like “Bwah”! It was like something out of a superhero movie!” Oracle gushed over Violet. The girl was stunned; receiving this much praise at once was too much for her, but luckily Oracle moved on. “And Mona! You threw that grenade straight into the shadows face! And Panther! I never knew you could position your Agidynes like that!”

“Alright Oracle, that’s enough,” Noir called out, the aforementioned girl bolting to attention, everyone smiling at her. 

“What’s gotten into you all sudden?” Fox asked the girl, a confused look on his face. Oracle simply shrugged, quickly calming herself down from being called out.

“I don’t know, it’s just been a while, ya’ know?” Oracle responded, before turning around. “Either way, to Joker we go!” she exclaimed, pointing towards the door on the opposite side of the room. The Thieves jogged towards the end of the room, eventually reaching an oak door with Joker’s mask inscribed on both sides.

“Okay. Let’s go!” Violet stated, pulling on the door which Oracle said led to Joker. The door stayed shut. Violet pushed on the door. Still stayed shut.

“Oooo-kaaay… There’s another door this way,” Oracle pointed towards a door opposite the one they entered the palace from. “We don’t have a map right now so we won’t know if we’re going in the right direction, but we’re out of options.”

“What about that door?” Noir pointed towards the door on the other side of the room, but Oracle immediately shook her head as Noir pointed

“Nope. There’s a ton of shadows over there, and we are NOT getting killed in Joker’s subconscious,” Oracle responded, waggling a finger in front of her.

“This way it is,” Skull began walking towards where Oracle was pointing, everyone following suit. Violet reached for the handle as they reached the door, holding her breath as her fingers wrapped around it.

“Open sesame!” Oracle shouted as Violet tried opening this door. Everyone let out a sigh of relief as it easily opened, revealing a white hallway with golden torches sitting on marble tables. At the end of the hallway was a set of stairs leading to the right, where Joker was.

“Stairs? At a time like this?” Skull moaned, shuffling his feet behind Violet as they made their way forward.

“It’s alright Skull; look, there aren’t many of them!” Noir tried to reassure him as they looked up to see that she was right; the stairs only looked to go up one story.

“Thank god…” Skull breathed a sigh of relief as the group walked their way up, to find another door in their way. For some reason, it felt familiar to Skull, Mona, and Panther.

“He-hey, you guys feel it too, right?” Panther stuttered, looking over at Skull and Mona.

“Hm? What’s wrong?” Violet asked, sending a confused look towards the trio along with the rest of the Thieves. The three looked at the door, then back at each other before Mona let out a sigh, turning to the rest of the Thieves.

“This is the same door as the door to Kamoshida’s treasure room,” Mona stated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You fools! You trusted me when I said the next chapter would take longer!  
> All jokes aside, working on this chapter was a ton of fun and I couldn't stop writing. I wrote and wrote until I was finished in a day, so I can't really complain about it. So enjoy three chapters within two days!


	7. Chapter 7

Joker stared unblinking at Goro Akechi, disbelief filling his eyes. He was in his black mask outfit, with nothing being changed at all unlike the other Thieves. ‘Is he a shadow? Or a cognition?’ Joker thought before shaking his head. ‘He’s not supposed to be here! Reality was supposed to return to normal after Maru- shit…’ Joker’s thoughts stopped abruptly at the realization that the Will of the Masses transferred to him after Maruki’s defeat. Akechi simply grinned smugly at the distraught look on Joker’s face before looking at Joker’s cognition.

“What say I destroy this fake of yours, Joker, and then we’ll finally have our duel!” Akechi basically spat out, words filled with venom that Joker had all but accompanied with his rival. However, something seemed off with his voice; it was too low to belong to him. Before Joker could say anything, Akechi turned back to him, still wearing his demonic smile.

“Destroying you will be fun, you fake, but my real battle is with Joker, so hurry up and die!” As soon as the last words left Akechi’s lips, he raised his burning sword and charged at Joker. ‘He’s fighting to kill; I don’t have a choice in the matter!’ Joker’s mind raced as he let Paradise Lost slide down into his hand, flourishing it in front of him before striking Akechi’s blade. Sparks flew off the two blades as they clashed, their two wielders pushing all their weight behind their weapon. 

“Grr… just die already!” Akechi yelled, pushing even harder against Joker’s knife. Joker let a small grin creep onto his face as he pulled back, turning to the left as Akechi’s blade sliced through the air. Paradise Lost glided through empty space before slicing Akehi’s body, leaving a large gash in his side. 

“You bastard fake!” Akechi screamed at the top of his lungs, putting his right hand on his wound. After seeing his blood on his hand, Akechi charged at Joker again, swinging wildly but, at the same time, precisely. Joker could barely keep up with the attacks, the red hot blade making small cuts in him as more attacks got through his defense. Joker winced as Akechi’s blade made a decently sized cut into his right thigh before kicking his rival away, hand going up to his mask. 

Since the start of the battle, Joker felt something boiling within him, coming from the Justice Arcana and the personae within. Ever since the fight with Maruki the Arcana had dulled everyday, eventually reaching the point where Joker could barely feel Angel, the weakest persona of the Arcana. But now every persona roared in pure rage within him, calling for blood. ‘What the hell?’ Joker thought, staring at Akechi as he straightened back up, a look of pure rage in his eyes. ‘They’re trying to tell me something, but I can’t focus on that right now!’ Joker’s mind rang, summoning Kin-ki as bullets flew from Akechi’s gun. They all bounced back towards the teen, piercing through his phantom outfit. To Joker’s surprise, Akechi didn’t bother turning into Loki, as the previous shadows did, but just charged again.

Joker found it even harder to dodge Akechi’s attacks despite his rival’s injuries; a cut on his cheek, a gash along his arm, a small stab wound in his side. Throughout the fight, Joker’s cognition stood there with a grin on his face; whenever Joker caught a look at it, the Justice Arcana burned with more anger until it was the only Arcana he could focus on.

“Melchizedek!” Joker roared, the normal blue flames surrounding him. However, red flames flickered around him as well before they dispersed, revealing the persona holding back Akechi from attacking. Joker’s face scrunched up in confusion; the purple colors the persona wore with white accents were now replaced with black and dark red. 

_ ‘I’m do… b… ma...pu...d’ _

“Akechi?” Joker breathed out, swearing he just heard his rival’s voice in his head. Everything clicked in his head as the powered up Melchizedek threw Akechi(?) to the ground, letting out a roar as its fist slammed down at the prone rival. Akechi(?) barely rolled out of the way, cutting at the persona’s fist which was now embedded in the ground. “Return!” Joker shouted out, barely feeling anything as Akechi continued slashing at the persona. Melchizedek disappeared, Joker’s mask returning onto his face as Akechi looked back at him.

“You’re not Akechi; not even Akechi’s shadow,” Joker stated, with each word the Justice Arcana grew more prominent in his mind. His rival sneered at him in disgust.

“What are you talking about, you fake? I’m standing right here, are-” Akechi began before Joker fired Tyrant’s Pistol at him, grazing his cheek.

“You’re not Akechi!” Joker roared, his right hand flying to his face as he holstered his pistol. He barely even had to pull as he screamed, “Metatron!”. Red flames surrounded him, causing Akechi(?) to hold up his hands from the sheer pressure coming from Joker as he slid backwards. As the flames disappeared, a large persona was floating next to Joker; the ultimate persona of the Justice Arcana. However, just with Melchizedek, it was all black with dark red accenting it; it’s eyes burned with hatred, boring into the cognition standing before it.

_ “I’m done being manipulated. Let’s go back… to our true reality.” _

Akechi’s words rang in Joker’s mind, but the Phantom Thief didn’t falter; instead, a crazed grin covered his face as Metatron roared next to him. “Just another puppet…” Joker began, slowly walking towards the cognitive version of Akechi, who stared at him in surprise. “First Yaldabaoth setting you against me, then Maruki using you to break my will to fight…” Joker grit his teeth, feeling not only his rage within him but also Akechi’s. Within his mind’s eyes he saw his rival grinning at him; it wasn’t his imagination; Joker knew at the sight of him that it truly was Akechi.

_ “You finally grew a spine, Akira. Finish this!” _

Joker’s eyes flashed bright red as the scenery around him changed into a dark alleyway, Cognitive Akechi standing dazed a good distance away from him and Metatron. 

“Metatron!” Joker yelled, the persona nodding as it flew straight up into the sky. Flying higher and higher, it turned abruptly, targeting straight down towards Cognitive Akechi. At the same time Joker let out a roar, feeling immense power course through his body before setting his crazed eyes onto the cognition. “I won’t go back on my word!” Joker screamed into the night, rushing towards the cognition just as Metatron slammed it’s dark fist down. Akechi’s cognition fell to the ground, Metatron reaching down for it’s head before throwing him into the air. As the cognition fell back down, Joker readied Paradise Lost and began slashing wildly, letting out a crazed laughter as he felt the cognition rip apart with every slice. 

“Stand still, you little shit!” Joker let ring out from his mouth, Akechi’s voice mired together with his own as he stabbed straight at the cognition’s heart. Suddenly, he found himself behind the cognition with Metatron at his side. “Finish it,” Joker commanded as Metatron lifted it’s right hand, a beam of blessed energy destroying the cognition entirely. Joker let out a deep breath, feeling the burning power within himself as he calmed down. Inside his mind’s eye he saw Akechi smirking at him. Joker let a smirk on his face as well before turning around, returning back to the Great Hall.

“Very well done, Trickster!” Joker’s cognition called out, slowly clapping as he approached Joker. Feeling a sudden pain in his mind, Joker called back Metatron; ‘I can’t use anymore ultimate personas, at least not right now,’ ran through his mind as he gripped Paradise Lost in his right hand, his left unholstering Tyrant Pistol and pointing it at his cognition.

“Let’s end this!”

* * *

“I friggin knew somethin’ was up!” Skull muttered to himself, staring at the door. Violet blinked at Mona a few times, then shook her head.

“Wait, Kamoshida’s palace? What is something from there doing in Aki-Joker’s palace?” She corrected herself, a small knot forming in her stomach as she stared back at the wooden door; she had a very bad feeling about this.

“No clue. But no time like the present to find out!” With that, Mona pushed open the door, revealing a room full of gold; no ground was showing due to the sheer amount of it.

“What…” Panther started.

“The ‘eff…” Skull finished, with Mona staring in disbelief.

“This… this is an exact replica of Kamoshida’s treasure room!” Mona exclaimed. Everyone looked at Mona in shock, letting out gasps of surprise as they looked around the room. Paintings hung all around the room, the biggest one being Akira pointing his pistol at Asmodeus right before finishing the shadow off.

“How’s that possible, Mona-chan?” Noir asked, eyes scanning the room. Mona shook his head, eyes still wide with a mixture of horror and shock.

“It shouldn’t be! Kamoshida’s palace collapsed more than a year ago!” Mona turned to the other two who were present during Kamoshida’s palace who had their mouths agape, slowly nodding their heads towards the cat.

“It must be part of Joker’s cognition,” Oracle spoke up, receiving seven surprised looks. Skull was about to speak up when voices suddenly rang out around the group, their origin unknown.

_ “I hear he’s done it all: drinking, smoking, theft.” _

_ “They really allow criminals into high school?” _

_ “He seems quiet… but I bet when he loses it…” _

“What… are all these voices?” Violet asked hesitantly, already knowing the answer.

“Probably also due to cognition,” Oracle replied, trying to find their source, to no avail. Violet looked over at the girl, seeing Oracle attempting to mask her discomfort. 

“They’re when Joker first got to Shujin. The rumors around him ran rampant, where everyone basically convinced themselves of shit he didn’t even do,” Skull said through gritted teeth. “Damnit, just thinking about it pisses me off!” Skull picked up a gold brick and threw it at the wall, which bounced off, causing no damage. Fox moved up beside Skull and placed his hand on his shoulder, causing the blonde to turn his face towards the bluenette.

“Skull, contain your anger,” Fox calmly said, removing his hand as Skull’s shoulders relaxed. “But… I never realized the severity of these rumors…” Fox’s face scrunched up into a frown from the horrid rumors of his closest friend.

“Yeah… They were awful. If it were me, I would have broken down into tears after five minutes of that,” Panther remarked, eyes full of sadness as she recollected people even mocking him when he got a question right in class.

“…” Mona stared at the ground, clearly remembering something uncomfortable, no one noticing except for Noir. A silence filled the room as the thieves became incredibly uncomfortable at the thought of the rumors actually having a negative effect on Akira, the one person they held up so highly in their minds.

“Rumors were spreading about you as well, Panther, were they not?” Fox positioned his body as he looked over towards the blonde. Panther looked up at Fox and slowly nodded, staring down at the ground as memories of that time ran through her mind.

“Yeah, but I was used to it at that point. And besides, I had Shiho at the time; Joker had nobody,” she eventually stated. Skull winced at the last part; it was true that the two of them weren’t friends yet when they escaped Kamoshida’s palace.

“Mona… what’s wrong?” Noir asked, giving into her curiosity. The cat perked up at his name, eyes showing conflict within his heart. Everyone’s eyes were on him when he eventually began.

“I – I promised Joker I wouldn’t tell anyone this, but…” The cat stopped to think what he was about to say before continuing. “You remember when you said that you would break down with all those rumors, Panther?” The girl nodded, allowing Mona to continue. “Well, on the day that we were going to fight Kamoshida’s shadow, he went into the bathroom. No one else was in there and I stayed in his bag, but I could hear… sobs from above me. Later, when I asked him about it, the only thing he said was that he got it out of his system,” Mona finished. Everyone was in shock; the thing they had feared was actually the truth?

“What the hell… I never knew,” was all Panther could say. Violet stared off into space, her chest tightening. ‘He – Akira – was crying?’ She thought to herself, burying herself deep within her mind as she saw an image of Joker, the man who always stood tall and proud, in the bathroom weeping. It went against everything she knew about her beloved, but upon hearing it come from Mona, she couldn’t get the image out of her mind.

“He never wanted to show his weaknesses to you guys; he was our leader, so he figured that if he showed any sign of weakness, he… he would become unreliable,” Mona struggled to finish. 

Everyone was silent until they heard two familiar voices.

_ “Oh, you know this guy Yoshizawa?”  _ Violet was brought out of her thoughts as she recognized the voice: Kamoshida. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for the source before realizing that it was also due to cognition.

_ “Yes, he lent me a helping hand earlier,”  _ her own voice responded, causing her to wince; she was still acting as her sister at this point and hearing it brought back those memories.

_ “I recommend you steer clear of the likes of him if you have any consideration for your future.” _

_ “Oh, the delinquent transfer student…?” _

The voices lowered to a murmur, allowing only Oracle to listen in. Violet tightened her hands into fists; how stupid was she to believe a man like Kamoshida? To believe that Akira, the man who put his life on the line for others, for  _ her _ , would be a delinquent. Anger rushed through her as her body began to shake in rage and despair. 

Skull noticed the red-head fall silent and shake slightly, his eyes filling with concern as he approached her. He cautiously lifted his hand and placed it on her shoulder. “Violet?” He ventured, but she ripped herself away from his grasp and turned towards the Thieves, tears already flowing down her cheeks as her emotions burst out

“How- how could I just believe such a thing? How could I do such a thing to Senpai, who had given me no evidence of wrongdoing, and now I learn of how much he was hurting?!” Violet screamed, everyone looking over at her in surprise. “Knowing what I know now, I – I probably only a – added to his su – suffering!” Her voice began to fade as she began to weep over regret, falling to her knees.

“Sumire,” Queen began, receiving a cough from Mona, but continued on. She understood that the girl was hurting, and this was a personal matter. She walked over to the torn girl who was sobbing uncontrollably. “There was no way for you, for anyone, to know the extent of the pain Akira faced,” Queen tried to calm down Violet.

“But – but -” Violet stuttered as she continued looking down at the ground, tears falling faster down her cheeks as the image of Akira lingered in her mind.

“It’s alright to feel guilty; we’re all feeling it right now,” Queen reassured Violet. “I could have and should have done something about the rumors, but I stayed silent. You know what? Akira probably resented me for it, and I wouldn’t blame him at all.” Violet looked up through tears to see tears forming in Queen’s red eyes.

“But that all is in the past now. We are here and now; what happened, happened. No amount of regret will change that,” Queen gave a slight smile to Violet. “However, I do know how much Akira relies on us, on you, and how much he cares for us.” Violet sniffled as her tears stopped, with Queen continuing on.

“And… I know that he loves you, Sumire, from the bottom of his heart,” Queen finished, giving Violet a tight hug. Violet put her arms around Queen, returning the hug and letting out a soft “Thank you, Makoto.” The two stayed there for a while, everyone staring softly at them. Violet felt her resolve strengthening within her; ‘Akira-senpai needs me right now, I can’t stay here feeling sorry for myself!’ She thought to herself.

With one more sniffle, Violet released from the hug and stood up, wiping away the tears on her cheeks. “Thank you, everyone. I’m – I’m sorry you had to see that,” Violet bowed slightly.

“Hey, don’t be like that! It happens to all of us!” Skull gave her a gentle smile. Violet returned it in kind before looking around at the room, finding a door at the other end of it. “There’s the exit; let’s go!” Violet began moving towards the door, eyes still red and puffy from crying, until a familiar voice rang around them.

_ “Ann and Ryuji… they went through so much because of Kamoshida. If I wasn’t such a coward, they wouldn’t have been dragged into all this mess, and Shiho-”  _ Akira’s voice echoed around the room.

“What—” Skull and Panther looked around the room, eyes full of confusion. They knew that voice was Akira’s, but what he said didn’t make sense to them.

“Did… he really believe that he could do something?” Panther looked at her feet, memories of the day Shiho tried to commit suicide rushing back. 

“Nah… I don’t… I CAN’T believe it…”Skull struggled to say, shaking his head in disbelief. ‘He really thought he should’ve done more? If anything, I should be the one thinking that.’ The two continued to look down at the ground when they felt a rumble beneath their feet.

“Watch out! I detect Shadows, and a lot of them!” Oracle exclaimed as eight shadows appeared from the ground: Pixie, Jack-O-Lantern, Bicorn, Angel, Slime, Silky, Berith, and Archangel. Everyone tightened their grips on their weapons, Violet putting her hands on Skull and Panther’s shoulder in reassurance. The two blondes stared at the previously torn girl and found a similar look of determination in her eyes as in Joker’s. Both of them smiled as they prepared to fight.

“Wait, these are total newbs. Take em out!” Oracle shouted as the thieves charged at the enemies.

All it took was a single hit from each member for the shadow to go down; the fight didn’t last more than thirty seconds.

“That… was simpler than expected,” Fox sighed, wiping off the dust from the destroyed shadows from his blade. “Is it because of Joker’s memories of Kamoshida’s palace?” He mused. 

“I don’t know man. But what Akira said…” Skull shrugged, suddenly remembering Akira’s words. Panther looked down at the ground as she remembered as well. Skull and Panther simultaneously let out a long sigh before facing the group again, determination burning in their eyes. Everyone grinned at them. With everyone’s resolve set, they moved across the room and towards the next door.

“Oh well, that works for me. Onwards!” Oracle stated as Skull grabbed the door handle, pulling it open to reveal another long hallway, with a turn at the end of it to the right. The group rushed towards the end, finding no resistance in their way.

“Huh?!” The group exclaimed as they turned the corner, facing another door.

“It's like a mix of Madarame's, Kaneshiro’s, and Futaba’s palace!” Fox exclaimed. The bottom of the door had security laser’s running across it, the middle resembled a safe, while the top was made of crumbling stone.

“Oh, I think I get it now!” Mona exclaimed, turning around to face the Thieves. “Basically we’re going through Joker’s memories of the palaces, where his true feelings are being revealed to us. But I have to wonder how much of this is due to the Will of the Masses…” the cat trailed off, returning his gaze back to the weirdly crafted door. Everyone’s gaze followed Mona’s except Violet, who noticed that Oracle was fidgeting quite a lot. 

“Are you okay, Oracle?” She asked the girl, who straightened immediately upon hearing her codename. Violet gave her a small smile as she placed her hand on her shoulder.

“Ye-Yessir!” She stammered, putting her hand in a salute. She broke the salute, looking over at the door. “It’s just… been a while since I’ve been in this place is all…” 

“Let’s go,” Skull said, patting Oracle on the shoulder.

As the group entered, they were met with a strange sight; the room was split into the three sections. They began in Madarame’s palace, then Kaneshiro’s palace was in the middle, with Futaba’s the last. Immediately the group began hearing voices again, similar to Kamoshida’s room.

_ “I’ll call the police if you try anything. Remember that.” _

_ “Three weeks. Bring three million yen by then. No less.” _

_ “I will remain here. I will do so until I die.” _

These voices all came one after the other, with two of them forcing Fox and Oracle to avert their eyes. Everyone stared at them, knowing why they looked so hurt; the first and last of the voices were their own, while the middle one was Kaneshiro’s threat towards the thieves over the picture he took.

“I know now that I truly didn’t know better, but I treated him so harshly!” Fox choked on his last words, pain in his eyes. Skull approached the teen and patted him on his shoulder, eventually letting his hand rest there.

“Dude, it’s alright!” Skull gently told his friend. “You didn’t want to betray the man who raised you even though the terrible things he did. Honestly, I don’t blame you for treating us the way you did, and I know neither does Akira.”

“Skull…” Fox looked up at the blonde through teary eyes and pulled him into his embrace, Skull returning the hug. “Thank you for the kind words. Truly I cherish our friendship.” 

Violet smiled at the two before realizing that Oracle was shaking beside her. She remembered Akira telling her about what happened in Oracle’s palace, and remembered the psychological labyrinth she put herself in; it reminded her of her own situation. Violet walked over to Oracle and brought the frail girl into a hug, holding her close as Akira had done multiple times for her.

“It’s alright, Futaba. It’s all okay now,” She reassured her fellow red-head, feeling Oracle’s body shake in anguish in her arms.

“But, I – I told him to his face that I wanted to die, while he was willing to risk his life to save mine!” Oracle exclaimed, tears welling up. Violet pulled Oracle away from her and stared her directly in her eyes. The look of pain and sadness only reminded her more of herself when Akira helped her snap out of being Kasumi. That feeling only made her want to help even more.

“I remember Akira-senpai telling me about what you went through, how you were trapped within your own cognition,” Violet gently whispered to the sobbing Oracle. “But you were determined to break out of it; that’s why you asked him for his help, right?” Violet gave Oracle a sweet smile, the other redhead looking up and giving a small smile back.

_ “Three million yen, huh? As long as my teammates are safe, I’ll do anything.” _

_ “To think someone like him would do such a thing… Yusuke, I’m so sorry I can’t provide more support… Dammit!” _

_ “Futaba… I swear I’ll change your heart. Even if it kills me.” _

The thieves all looked at each other, shocked at Akira’s voice ringing around them again.

“Joker?” Fox gasped, releasing Ryuji from the hug. After all Akira had done for him, he still thought he could’ve done more?

“He… he wasn’t planning on paying Kaneshiro back by himself, was he?” Queen’s eyes widened in horror as thoughts raced through her mind. Three million yen is too much to pay off in a normal manner, so that meant… she shook her head, the thought of Akira doing something so extreme making her nauseous.

“Akira…” Oracle teared up again, unable to speak. Violet gripped harder around the girl, the memory of her attacking Akira rushing forward in her mind. She shook that memory away as she focused on Oracle. Mona looked around at the party before sighing to himself.

“These seem to be his true feelings, buried deep within his mind. They weren’t strong enough to turn into a palace at the time, but I imagine that these thoughts crossed his mind once or twice,” he informed the group, who all had their eyes on him. ‘So all these are his true feelings?’ Violet thought to herself, realizing how much Akira put on himself without the Thieves knowing.

“Dammit! So he was putting all that pressure onto himself and we never noticed?” Skull asked, with the only response being silence. The silence lingered until they heard the sound of shadows forming around them. Violet released Oracle and put the redhead behind her, the rest of the Thieves grabbing hold of their weapons.

“Shit! We have to fight through this…” Mona cursed, looking at the shadows in front of him. Ippon-Datara, Ame-no-Uzeme, Nue, Fuu-ki, Sui-ki, Kin-ki, Mot, and Black Ooze. “Alright guys, you know what to do!”

The thieves all grabbed their masks and summoned their personas. They had already fought these enemies before, so Queen knew their weaknesses. After calling them out, a flash of all the elements, minus curse, shot out from their personas, all of the shadows falling to the ground.

“They’re all down! All out Attack!” shouted Oracle. This was the first time more than four members would contribute in this attack, and just as Oracle expected, it was a spectacle to watch. The Thieves rushed forward before leaping into the air, their feet landing on the walls before readying their weapons as they rushed towards the downed shadows. They danced around the shadows, slashing, bashing, and hacking away while simultaneously avoiding each other until no signs of the shadows remained.

“Nice work team!” Queen shouted, shaking her hands loose of her gauntlets. The rest of the Thieves grinned at her, pushing the things they heard in the room out of their mind.

“Alright, let’s go!” Skull shouted as they walked forward to the next door. Violet only smiled before looking over at Oracle and Fox, seeing the determined looks in their eyes put her mind at ease as Panther opened the next door, revealing another long hallway. The group began walking in silence again before Queen stopped in her tracks, causing everyone to look at her in confusion.

“Next is…” Queen began, looking over at Noir.

“That is correct. My father’s palace,” Noir finished, a sullen but determined look in her eyes. After seeing the prior rooms, she had prepared herself for what she would see ahead; she didn’t want anyone to worry about her.

“Will you be okay, Noir?” Queen ventured, putting a hand on her fellow graduate’s shoulder as the group faced a metallic door, identical to the ones in Okumura’s palace. The girl nodded as she stepped forward, opening the door and taking a step inside. They were met with a futuristic room, set up exactly as Okumura’s palace was down to multiple airlocks set up around the room.

_ “So, it appears that combat will not dissuade you.”  _ a voice echoed around the Thieves.

“Who’s there?!” Skull shouted, the Thieves grabbing their weapons and scanning the room for the mysterious voice. They could all tell that this was different from the voices before.

_ “Very well. It seems that combat against lower beings will not slow you down; however, you will be required to witness our lord’s struggles throughout his many triumphs,”  _ the voice ignored Skull’s demands. The room dimmed, and with a flash of light a projector screen appeared on the wall of the spaceport-inspired room. It began flickering until it rested upon a white screen, with words at the bottom saying “Press “Play” to continue.”

“’Eff that!” Skull spat, walking over to the door on the other side of the room. When he attempted to open it, he was met with a large blast of Almighty energy, sending him flying into Fox’s arms.

“Skull!” Mona yelled out, summoning Diego to heal his teammate.

“So, it appears we have to do as the voice says…” Queen trailed off, looking at the old-looking DVD player sitting on top of a futuristic desk. A small “Thanks Mona. Thanks Fox,” came from Skull as he got back to his feet, Fox helping me up.

“It appears so. Violet, if you would do the honors,” Fox bowed slightly towards the DVD player. Violet nodded her head but hesitated slightly; what were they about to watch? She prepared herself mentally as she walked over to the table and hit the large button labelled “Play”.

The screen lit up instantly, showing a countdown before going black again. After a second of waiting, the group was met with an image of Akira on the floor of the laundromat near Leblanc, tears running down his cheeks.

_ “Why?! Why did it go wrong? What happened?!” The torn boy sobbed in anger. “Haru…. I’m… I’m so sorry!” _

_ Akira weakly slammed his fist onto the floor in anger. “I call myself the leader of the Phantom Thieves, but I’m so damn weak! I could have done something… something to stop him from dying! Now Haru’s dad is dead, and it's all my fault!” More tears rushed from Akira’s eyes as he hit the floor again. He stayed on the ground for a while, sobs coming from his body as a pool of tears formed underneath him. _

_ Akira began to get up from the ground, struggling onto his feet. Suddenly, Akira burst out again, slamming his fist onto the washing machine. _

_ “Damnit!” He screamed weakly. He let his fist lay on the machine as he stared at the floor, tears flowing down his face and onto the floor. _

Everyone just stood there, staring as the screen went dark. Seeing Akira like that was something they hadn’t anticipated, and they were caught completely off guard.

_ “On that night, our great king had failed one of his teammates. Knowing that he could have done something, a great amount of grief washed over him that night, allowing him no sleep. He lacked control; do you wish to steal that away from him now?” _ the voice boomed.

The thieves stood there in stunned silence, with Noir beginning to tear up. “Joker…” she looked down at her feet; he felt that much guilt for her father’s passing? She felt Queen’s hand on her shoulder as she looked over to see her friend’s face, a concerning look directed at her.

“It wasn’t his fault though, yet he placed all the blame upon himself?” Fox questioned.

“Yet, the next day he was full of energy, determined to keep moving forward! He was hiding all that shame and sorrow that well?” Panther teared up; seeing the person who helped her so much in that pain was like a punch to the stomach.

“Yeah… it was him who told us to keep going, while we all wanted to quit…” Oracle trailed off.

“It’s because he cares for us.”

The group looked over at Violet in surprise.

“I believe that this video, although it showed Senpai at his lowest point, it also showed how much he truly loves us,” Violet continued, letting a small, sad smile appear on her face. “That is the man I know, the man I love. Right now, this voice is showing us the darkest points in his life to break our wills, but I’ve made up my mind. I will save him!” Violet ended, determination flooding into her eyes as she looked from thief to thief. The group just stared at the determined look in her eyes before Skull let out a small chuckle.

“She’s right,” he let out softly. “I’ve made a promise to Akira that I’m gonna keep, dammit!” A fire lit itself in Skull’s soul as he shouted the last part. His and Violet’s words reached the rest of the thieves, who nodded their heads in agreement. Turning towards the exit, they walked towards the end of the room where a robust wooden door stood. Skull immediately pushed it open, bright lights meeting their eyes.

“Huh?” Queen gasped as the door led them into what seemed to be a casino; the group knew what that meant.

“Niijima’s palace, huh,” Panther muttered, looking around the room. “Wait, those tables are from Shido’s palace! What’re they doing here?!”

As the group looked around, the room seemed to be a mixture of Shido’s ship and Sae’s casino, with a giant screen on the other side of the room.

_ “These two palaces are closely linked for our king,” _ the invisible voice boomed again.  _ “Thus, he has this room to honor his rival.” _

“Damnit, just show yourself already!” Skull snapped, bursting forward at nothing.

“It appears these voices aren’t coming from something; they’re supposed to play when we enter every room,” Oracle informed the group, looking over as Skull leaned back into his normal stance, calming down.

“Huh? Another DVD player,” Fox saw as he looked around the room. “I suppose we should play it?” Everyone nodded their heads as Violet approached the box, hitting play once again without hesitation. The screen came to life, showing Akira sitting on his bed head in his hands.

_ “I—I don’t know if I can do this…” He muttered to himself, panic and fear showing in his eyes. _

_ “Everyone is relying on me, but I keep having doubts about myself; if I can’t convince Sae, I’m done for. The others will likely be killed by Akechi as well. Akechi… why did it have to be Akechi?” Akira’s voice strained as he looked over at a sleeping Morgana. _

_ “Damn it, I need some sleep for tomorrow…” _

The static covered the screen as the scene shifted; now it was showing Akira downstairs in Leblanc, the café closed and the lights turned off. Rain was lightly falling down outside as Akira just stared at the wall of beans, eyes devoid of emotion.

_ “Akechi…” he said as he reached into his pocket, pulling out Akechi’s black glove. “I-I’m so sorry, Akechi. I couldn’t keep our promise.” _

_ With those words, he walked back upstairs. Without waking Morgana, he passed out instantly in his bed. _

The screen flicked off, leaving the thieves… confused.

“I mean, I was sad about Akechi dying too, but Akira seemed a little too hurt by it,” Skull rubbed the back of his head.

“I knew that we were placing a lot of pressure onto him with the mission, but always thought that because it was him, he would be fine,” Oracle let out a soft sigh, eyes full of regret.

“He liked to hang with Akechi a lot; despite them being rivals, Akira could truly never hate him. Quite the opposite, as the end of that showed,” Mona confirmed, nodding his head towards Skull.

_ “If only our King had reached his rival’s heart earlier, he would be able to fulfill his promise. Now, he holds onto that glove, waiting for a rematch that will never happen,”  _ the voice rang around them. Everyone stared at each other in confusion before Violet slowly nodded her head, all eyes falling onto her.

“If I remember correctly, I heard Joker-senpai mutter something about Akechi and a duel when he fell asleep watching television,” Violet reminisced. She thought back to fighting with the two before she faced Maruki in his palace, and back then it seemed the two had a special bond with each other. Her eyes began to water as she thought of the heartbreak Akechi’s death had on Akira, but quickly shook her head; she couldn’t let her spirit be shaken.

“It isn’t unbelievable, especially if Akechi was the one to ask for the duel. The two saw each other as equals, with us learning later that Akechi had a similar power to Joker’s,” Oracle said. Everyone looked down; they knew what Akechi’s fate had been.

“Shouldn’t we be on our way?” Noir suggested, looking around as heads shot up from the ground to stare over at her. “If things seem to continue this way, we have at most two more rooms to go through.”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Mona answered, walking to the next door as the Thieves followed him. Ryuji increased his stride, walking directly towards the seemingly normal door as he reached out to open it.

“What the…?!” Skull yelled out, startled as the door crumbled away as he touched the handle. On the other side was complete darkness; Skull, knowing that his best friend was in danger and how far they had come took a step forward, his foot hitting solid ground. The rest followed behind him into the pitch black room until their bodies stopped moving, as if they had been frozen solid. 

‘Huh?’ Violet’s mind swirled as she saw the room brighten up, a horrific scene playing out in front of her. The thieves were all fighting against a giant metallic being; from what she recalled Akira telling her, this was the God of Control they freed the world of on Christmas Eve. Her friends were badly injured, including Akira, while she could hear laughter come from the God of Control as dark energy swirled in front of it.

Without warning, the god released the energy towards her friends. The energy engulfed the thieves, killing them all except for Akira. Panic set in on Akira’s face as he saw the corpses of his friends on the ground around him.

“Guys…?” he let out, before a soul-crushing scream escaped from his throat, causing Violet to wince as a desire to run to comfort him overwhelmed her. However hard she tried, her body wouldn’t move, and the room began to fade to black before another scene appeared before Violet, this time in Inokashira Park. It was dark out, with Akira sitting by himself on a railing by the lake. She noticed tears rolling down his cheek, her heart breaking as she tried calling out to him. No words came from her mouth as she stood there, frozen in front of Akira.

“I have everything in front of me…” the raven-haired teen sobbed. “I know the right decision, but I keep doubting myself!” He paused, letting out more heartfelt sobs into his hands. Each sob caused Violet’s stomach to flip; she couldn’t stand seeing Akira so hurt.

“I know that I can’t accept this reality; I don’t want to live the rest of my life running from my problems, and neither do my friends. But… I don’t want to lose Akechi again,” Akira stared at the ground in front of him, eyes filling with disgust at himself

“But again, if I accept, Sumire will-!” a sob cut that thought short as he put his head in his hands. “She’ll disappear and become her sister, and it’ll be my fault.” Violet’s eyes widened at the statement; she was the other side of the decision for him?

Akira sighed before standing up, eyes filled with remorseful determination as he wiped away his tears.

“No… I know what I have to do. I already promised Akechi that we’re not accepting this reality, and I never go back on my word!” Akira practically shouted those last words as he began walking away, presumably to Leblanc.

The room began to fade yet again to black, but stayed that way, with the rest of the thieves reappearing in front of Violet.

“Akira…” was all Panther said, staring at the ground.

“If I recall, he mentioned he was having nightmares sometime after defeating Maruki, while he was in Juvenile detention. I never imagined them to be so vivid, however…” Fox stated. The sight of his dead body was… unnerving, to say the least. For Akira to have that dream repeatedly was horrifying to think about.

“Now that I think about it, we never got to see his reaction when Akechi went missing. It probably hit him pretty hard,” Skull softly spoke, looking up at Violet. “But, knowing what we just saw, the breaking point in his decision was our progress, how far we had come, especially Violet.”

“I-I agree… I wish that he would have told me about how much pain he was in that night…” Violet trailed off, feeling her emotions swelling back as her chest began hurting. Both of those memories hurt as she quickly learned just how much she hated seeing the one she loved most brought down so low. She tried keeping the fire in her heart alight, but after seeing how much pain Akira was in, it was hard for her to keep the same level of determination.

“He didn’t want to worry any of us; I bet he thought that if we saw him doubting, it would cause us to lose faith in him…” Skull’s voice rang around the dark room. He looked around at his friends, all of them clearly wanting to say something, but holding back. “… I think he was right.” Skull was expecting denials from the others; all he got were shocked expressions leading to small head nods.

“Ye-yeah… I mean, I thought that he was practically invincible, his heart made of steel. He was a real-life superhero, right in front of my eyes,” Oracle uttered.

“I couldn’t put it better myself,” Noir allowed a small, pained smile upon his face. Akira had been the one to help them all throughout their problems while he was facing his own demons, seemingly alone.

_ “Do you now understand? Our lord’s wish for stability, to be able to prevent any more tragedies from occurring. If you continue any further, you will rob him of his wishes; you will betray him,” _ the voice rang one final time, leaving the teenagers with their thoughts and now, their doubts. Were they betraying Akira again? Violet began tearing up at the thought, her resolve quickly crumbling.

“You’re wrong!”

A voice snapped them all out of their thoughts, recognizing the voice. “Joker?!” They all shouted in unison; they could tell instantly it was real and not a cognition. Violet’s eyes widened even more, her tears stopping as she listened intently to Akira's next words.

“While it’s true I never spoke about my struggles with them, I never suffered alone! They were the ones that gave me my strength, my courage. Without them, I wouldn’t be standing here right now!” Akira’s voice rang around them. Violet’s resolve hardened again; how stupid was she to let… whatever this was to shake her resolve? She shook her head and turned to the others.

“We need to go now!” She exclaimed, everyone nodding their heads as they scanned the room for a door. Skull, too impatient to look, turned towards Oracle.

“Where’s his voice coming from, Oracle? How do we get to him?” Skull urgently asked their navigator.

“Over ther-” 

Skull was already sprinting towards where she was pointing, finding the door in front of them and slamming his whole body into it, flying into the next hallway. Violet sprinted right next to him with the rest of the thieves behind them, her heart beating faster and faster as they ran throughout the hallway. ‘Don’t worry, Akira. We’re on our way!’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I really can't stop writing. Anyways, I know the whole thing with Akechi might be a little weird, but after seeing Kasumi during Sumire's true awakening, the idea that Akechi, who was a fellow wild card user, would exist within the deepest parts of Akira's subconscious. And yes, the Justice Arcana shifted to better represent Akechi's own justice along with all the personae within it. Hope you enjoyed this one!


	8. Chapter 8

“Shit!” Joker cursed as the cognition’s blade caught his side as he jumped away, clutching at it in pain. ‘It’s getting faster; I can’t hold out much longer,’ his mind raced; his clothes were in tatters as blood was seeping from his multiple wounds around his body. He didn’t have time to heal either because the cognition wouldn’t let up its attack. Before he had time to think of what to do, the cognition rushed at Joker again, knife poised to cut him down. Joker tried deflecting the blade with his own, but was thrown backwards by the cognition onto the destroyed table.

“Damnit!” Joker yelled, trying to find his footing as the cognition of him just stared at him, pure white eyes boring into him. “Unicorn!” Joker shouted, attempting to rip off his mask. To his surprise, the mask wouldn’t budge. He pulled again; nothing. While he was struggling, the cognition just laughed at him, bringing its hand to its own mask.

“ **Is this what you’re looking for?”** the cognition taunted. Before Joker could respond, a flash of light blinded him, causing him to shield his eyes from his cognition. “ **Unicorn!”** he heard the cognition yell as the light died down, revealing the persona Joker attempted to summon behind him.

“What…” Joker breathed out, fighting his way to his feet as he stared at the persona of the Faith Arcana; when Sumire and Futaba’s shadows disappeared, he felt the two Arcana strengthen, but now they were the exact same as the Fool Arcana. In fact, after searching within himself, all the Arcana minus the strengthened Justice Arcana were like that. “How did yo- Gah!” Just as he was about to demand an answer, Unicorn charged at Joker, impaling his right hand with its horn as he attempted to block its attack. Pain shot through Joker’s hand as Unicorn pulled back, leaving a giant hole within the Trickster’s hand. 

‘What the hell…’ Joker thought to himself, staring straight at the ground through the new wound in his hand as he fell to his knees; the fight with Akechi’s cognition had tired him out and now it was all catching up to him. His vision faded in and out as he fought to stay conscious; the fight could have ended right then and there, but instead the cognition opened its mouth again.

**“You… are very weak, Trickster,”** the cognition shook its head, a look of… pity? in its eyes.  **“However, I can give you strength. Strength to stand against the world, to rule over it. You can make your own rules, to make sure that no harm will ever come to your friends.”**

“What?” Joker gasped as memories of his lowest moments flew through his head, ending with his final decision in Inokashira Park. Dark emotions filled him; pain, regret, sadness, loneliness. He grit his teeth as the emotions only reminded him of the immense pain he was in.

**“So, it seems like your friends have found those memories; your regrets,”** the cognition continued approaching Joker, a calm look on its face. **“They are now realizing who you are: a broken human being, not the fantasy hero they previously saw you as. You hid your** **struggles, your pain from them for so long, suffering in silence for their sake. But no longer; give me your word, and I shall grant you power unmatched in this world!”**

Akira looked at the ground, eyes full of panic as he gripped his injured hand. He clearly felt all of his injuries as he was quickly losing blood; he didn’t even have the energy to raise his hand to summon Angel.

“You’re just a cognition, how could you ever do something like that?” He questioned the being now standing above him, but he froze as it started laughing, feeling his blood turn cold.

**“Cognition? Trickster, did you really believe that?”** the cognition(?) had an evil grin on its face, chuckling before it continued. **“No, I am you, fused together with the will of the people!”**

Joker stared at his shadow in disbelief; there was no way… right? But as Joker continued staring at his shadow, it all began to make sense. ‘That’s why the Fool Arcana was locked away; I’m still denying myself, even after all this time, huh?’ Joker questioned himself, closing his eyes. As they closed fully, he was suddenly face to face with Akechi once again. The brown haired teen was staring at Joker with contempt coalesced with pity.

“What, are you going to sit there and listen to that thing?” Akechi spat at his injured rival. Joker was taken aback, looking down before chuckling to himself; after all this time of pushing others past their limits, of course it was Akechi to be the one to push him past his own. Joker looked back up into his rivals eyes, determination bursting in his chest. 

“I won’t falter; never again!” Joker exclaimed. Akechi simply smiled; a genuine smile, something that he hadn’t done in a while.

“Good; now, for both our sakes, shut that thing up!” Akechi yelled as Joker’s eyes shot back open, his shadow now leaning down to face him.

**“Well, what is your answer, Trickster?”** the shadow asked, a cocky grin on its face. A low chuckle came from Joker as he slowly stood back up, his body screaming at him to stop, but the entirety of the Justice Arcana burned within him; he let out a miniature roar as he planted his right foot in the debris of the table, straightening his back to face his shadow. It had a shocked look on its face before turning to rage as it understood what the look in Joker’s eyes meant.

**“You deny my gift and continue fighting alone, despite the suffering you are enduring? Trickster, I never took you to be a fool.”** Joker’s shadow nearly shouted at the exhausted but determined Phantom Thief.

“You’re wrong!” Joker shouted back, pain rushing all around his body but the Justice Arcana gave him the strength to continue standing. “While it’s true I never spoke about my struggles with them, I never suffered alone! They were the ones that gave me my strength, my courage. Without them, I wouldn’t be standing here right now!” As Joker finished, he saw the overbearing light in his shadows eyes dim ever so slightly. At the same time he felt a rush of power course through him; within the sea of souls he felt all his Arcana return to normal, including the Fool Arcana.

**“Hmph, if that’s how it is then so be it!”** the shadow said, it’s voice no longer mirroring Joker’s, now becoming much deeper.  **“Humanity desires one to rule over them, to guide them to the light. If you wish to deny them their wish...”** The shadow paused, closing his eyes for a brief moment before they shot back open, nothing but pure light coming from the two orbs.  **“Then I will have to fulfill it myself.”** As he finished, the shadow rushed towards Joker again and made a stab for his heart. Joker tightened his grasp around Paradise Lost, immense pain shooting from the hole in his hand, before putting all his strength behind his right arm, colliding the blade with the shadow’s. To the shadow’s surprise, Joker stood firm, even pushing it back towards the golden throne.

**“H-how? You’re by yourself; no mortal should be capable of this power!”** the shadow stuttered as Joker continued to push it back.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Joker let a grin on his face, the world around him still blurry from exhaustion. “I’m no longer by myself, even if I’m fighting alone. I have my bonds with my friends within me and, even if those fail me,” Joker paused, closing his eyes to see Akechi within him motioning as if he was about to puke. He let his smirk form into a smile before shooting his eyes back open. “Akechi is within me, watching my every move; there’s no way I can let myself lose or he would never let me live it down!” At the last words, Joker surged forward, throwing the shadow backwards into the throne behind it. He reached up to his mask, feeling the Fool Arcana within himself growing more and more.

“Arsene!” Joker ripped his mask off, revealing the Pillager of Twilight. “Go!” Joker yelled. The persona danced around Joker as they both charged at his cognition. Arsene suddenly burst out in front of Joker and, with a flip midair, brought his leg crashing down onto the shadow. The force from the attack demolished the throne, the shadow now lying in the shattered gold and marble it was made of. His mask returning and Arsene disappearing, Joker pulled out Tyrant’s Pistol from his holster as he rushed forward. With a spin of the demonic pistol, Joker pointed it directly between the shocked eyes of the shadow.

“See ya!” Joker smirked, pulling the trigger. The impact of the bullet made the shadow fly backwards, smashing into the wall directly behind it and kicking up a cloud of dust. Joker’s chest moved up and down steadily as the Phantom Thief made sure to stay alert; there was no way it was that easy.

“Hm?” Joker muttered as he heard rumbling all around him, the chandeliers above him beginning to shake. Just as he was about to summon Arsene again, a ray of light shot out of the dust cloud, hitting Joker in the thigh. “Argh!” Joker screamed out in pain as he fell to a knee, looking up to see the dust cloud fully disperse to reveal the shadow now surrounded in blinding light. It no longer had Joker’s face, instead having a completely bald head made of gold. It stood there, fury in its eyes as it stared down at Joker.

**“** ** _It didn’t have to come to this, but you leave me no choice. Humanity needs a ruler, a figurehead to lead them towards greatness. You are the one they chose, and I will grant them their desires one way or anoth–”_** the shadow was cut off as a giant boat rammed into it, sending it flying out of a window into the stormy weather. The ship stopped directly in front of Joker, who attempted to look up, but his body was too weak. However, he noticed a familiar white sheen to it with a blue aura surrounding the ship.

“William?” Joker muttered weakly before multiple figures jumped from the boat, landing in front of him as one rushed towards him. Joker could make out vibrant red hair as the figure leaned down in front of him.

“Senpai!” he heard Sumire’s voice call out, but it sounded distant despite coming directly in front of him. 

“…Sumire? Guys?” Joker coughed, blood splattering in front of him. He felt a hand get placed onto his injured leg, then the same hand lifting up his right arm. He heard multiple gasps around him as they could see straight through his hand.

“Senpai, you’re… you’re hurt!” Sumire’s voice called out directly in front of him, her eyes focused on his own. Despite his blurred vision, Joker could see her bright red eyes due to how close she was and saw that she was tearing up. He attempted to raise his left hand to comfort her, but his body would barely move.

“Diarahan!” Morgana’s voice called out. Green energy swirled around Joker before shooting into his body, taking effect instantly. The flesh in his right hand grew back, the broken bones and torn tissue also healing completely. However, the skin that grew back was lighter than the rest of his skin, leaving a permanent mark on his hand. The numerous cuts all around his body also healed, with the larger ones leaving scars. ‘Man, do I have a lot of these,’ Joker smiled to himself before lifting his head, staring straight at Sumire; she was on the verge of tears, no doubt from seeing him like that.

“Thank you… everyone,” Joker uttered, before pulling Sumire into a hug, who hugged him back tightly. His heart rate increased as he felt the warmth of her body; he didn’t realize how much he craved human contact until he was holding her. His grasp around her became tighter, forgetting for a moment where he was as his focus was on Sumire and Sumire alone. 

“Senpai…” Violet breathed out, her heart simultaneously wanting to burst out of her chest and completely at peace; he was safe in her arms, and she never wanted to let go. The rest of the Thieves smiled at the two, giving them space as they shared a tender moment with one another. Suddenly, Mona let out a small cough and Joker moved his head up from Violet’s shoulder to look at his friends. He then remembered what the shadow said, that they saw his darkest moments; they knew everything. “I’m… so sorry that that side of me was revealed the way it was. I’ve been meaning to tell you all, but I didn’t want my worries and doubt to hinder our mission.”

“No problem man!” Skull had his mask off, William still behind him. “We kinda figured that was the reason; besides, we heard what you said earlier. Just… now that everything’s done and finished, don’t be afraid to lean on us, ‘kay?” Skull reassured his best friend, giving him a gigantic grin.

“I promise,” Joker returned the smile, nodding his head to everyone while still holding Violet tight. He looked down at the girl, her head buried in his chest. “Violet, I think it’s time you let go of me,” Joker patted her on the head, remembering to use code names. Instead, the girl buried her face deeper into his chest and muttered something he didn’t catch.

“What was that?” Joker genuinely asked, a confused look on his face. Violet lifted her face slightly away from his chest, allowing Joker to see her face was the same color as her hair.

“I said I’m sorry, Senpai!” She exclaimed, looking up into his gray eyes with her watery red. Joker simply pulled her in again as the word “Senpai” left her mouth, a small squeak coming from her as he put his right hand against her head.

“There’s nothing for you to apologize about,” Joker told her before seeing the downcast gazes of his teammates, minus Mona and Skull. “None of you, for that matter. Everything is okay now, so stop being so hard on yourse- Gah!” Joker’s voice was cut off as tendrils of light pierced into his back, causing his body to seize up.

“Senpai!” Violet yelled out in horror; light was filling Joker’s eyes as a wicked grin fell onto his face. Before she could get away from him he threw her backwards, Skull catching her before she fell onto the ground.

“Joker, what the hell was that fo-” Skull began before noticing the light tendrils snaking from Joker’s back to the outside. His attention fell onto the broken window that the shadow flew through and gasped; a blinding light was shining from the opening with numerous tendrils coming from outside.

**_“So, he denies the desires of humanity, and now you all threw away the life you wanted so desperately that I happily gave. No matter; humanity’s desire will prevail,”_ ** the voice of the shadow rang around the Thieves, Joker’s body violently convulsing as light surrounded the leader of the Phantom Thieves, the tendrils pulling him away from his friends below the lifted platform for the throne. 

“Akira!” A scream erupted from Violet as Skull held her back, watching in horror as Joker’s Thief outfit transformed, it’s usual black turning into a piercing white with his mask becoming white , the black outlines around his eyes turning golden. Suddenly, his body snapped straight up, his head looking down at the ground with his eyes closed. Loud laughter filled the room, causing the Thieves to turn their attention back towards the window. A sleek body made completely out of light floated through the window. Coming out of his back were the tendrils of light boring into Joker; Skull noticed this and, without thinking, took a step forward towards the being.

“What the hell are you doing to him, you bastard?!” Skull shouted at the being of light, anger quickly overpowering the surprise he felt just a few seconds ago. The being continued to float in the air, chuckling to itself before answering.

**_“I have made good on my word; he will be humanity’s savior, with or without his assent,”_ ** The being announced, holding out his arms.

“Under your contr-” Queen began before a blast of psychic energy hit her directly, sending her straight to the ground. 

“Queen!” Noir shouted, running towards the prone girl and lifting up her head. “Mona, can you heal her?”

“I can’t do much, but here go-” Mona began, before Skull pushed him out of the way.

**“Thor!”** Joker’s voice rang out as a bolt of electricity fell onto where Mona was just a half of a second earlier, now hitting Skull. Both the blonde and the cat scrambled to their feet, the Thieves all turning towards Joker as he stood a good distance away from the stairs leading towards the Thieves. Behind him was the god of thunder, clothed in all white with mjolnir radiating light.

“Mona, heal Queen now!” Skull commanded, the cat not wasting any time as he summoned Diego.

**_“Do not worry; thou shalt be reborn under his reign as his angels to keep order throughout this new kingdom,”_ ** the being spoke calmly as it moved behind Joker, floating up towards the ceiling as Queen got back to her feet after Mona casted a Diarama on her. Violet stared at the controlled Joker as Thor disappeared, his configured mask forming back on his face.

“Akira…” she breathed out; was she really about to hurt the one that meant the most to her? ‘I can’t do it… please let this be a nightmare!’ she pleaded to no one as Joker reached back up to his mask, his light filled eyes unblinking.

“Guess we got to do this!” Skull shouted, taking a step besides Violet and placed his hand onto her shoulder. “Hey, we’ll save him. Together, right?” he smiled at her, a shocked look on her face as she looked up to see a fire burning deep within the blonde’s eyes. She closed her own, time seemingly stopping around her as she prepared herself mentally.

‘ _ Do it!’ _

Violet’s eyes flew back open, turning her head back to see Joker’s eyes flash back to grey for a split second before returning to pure white. “Senpai, I…” Violet began as she saw him reach up for his mask again, his hand shaking slightly as he gripped it tight. 

**“Norn.”** Joker’s voice rang out, a slight amount of shakiness within it as light shone around him, revealing the giant clock persona above him. Violet’s eyes widened as wind swirled around Skull’s feet, barely pushing him out of the way as blades of wind cut into her skin.

“Violet! Diarahan!” Panther yelled out, summoning Celestine to heal her teammate of her wounds. Violet landed on top of Skull before scrambling to her feet, turning to face Joker once again.

“Damn, he’s going straight for our weaknesses…” Skull trailed off as Norn disappeared, Joker’s hand already on his mask again. Fox appeared next to the two, ripping his mask off.

“Gorokichi! Brave Blade!” Fox commanded the eccentric persona, whose brush burned hot as pure energy surrounded it, dove straight towards Joker. However, as the persona’s brush was about to connect, Gorokichi flew backwards, Fox falling to the floor as he let out a cry of pain.

“Are you alright, Fox?” Noir ran beside the bluenette, helping him to his feet as the Thieves all looked over to see Girimehkala in front of Joker, which must have reflected Fox’s attack back at him. Violet couldn’t take seeing him fight against them any longer.

“Akira! Please, stop doing this! You have to fight back against it!” She shouted, everyone looking at her in surprise including Joker, whose eyes flashed back to grey for a split second. She could see his mouth move as tears began to well up before going back to being fully controlled.

“Damn… it…” Joker grit his teeth as every fiber of his being fought against the control of the being above him, but he was lifted into the air by the tendrils in his back. His hand was up back at his mask again, moving on it’s own as his mouth moved again.

**“Beelzebub!”** He shouted against his own will, the ultimate persona of the Devil Arcana buzzing next to him as Almighty energy immediately began gathering in front of it. ‘Shit, not that strong!’ Joker cursed in his mind, feeling the word “Megidolaon” forming on his lips.

**“Me-Megidola!”** escaped his lips, a the Almighty energy building up in front of the persona shooting down towards the Thieves. All Joker could do was watch as the energy tore into them, leaving them heavily injured but not gravely.

“Shit!” Skull cursed, all his strength leaving him as he fell to the ground, the other Thieves following suit. That last attack had nearly killed them all, and blood was already running down from the newly made wounds. Skull attempted to push himself up, but his arms gave out, causing him to fall back down. “Dammit, Joker! Snap out of this!”

None of the Thieves except for Violet saw as Joker’s body trembled at Skull’s words; the redhead forced her head up off the ground, her hazy vision preventing her from seeing Joker clearly but she could still see his body shake violently in the air. “Se-senpai?” she muttered, her strength leaving her as she fought to stay conscious. 

“Damn...it...all!” Joker said through gritted teeth, Beelzebub disappearing and his hand already on his mask again; he felt the being above him growing impatient and the voice in his head screaming  **“** **_Enter your new kingdom_ ** **!”**

**“Fafnir!”** Joker heard come from his mouth, panic filling his body as he felt the large persona appear behind him. “No… guys!” Joker's eyes fell onto Violet’s face; despair was prevalent in her eyes as she stared up at him. 

“You moron.”

‘Huh?’ Akira thought before seeing Akechi with a scowl on his face, staring into his eyes. “Are you really going to let that being control you? I thought you made up your mind with Maruki; that you wouldn’t fold!” With Akechi’s last words, Joker’s blood began to boil again as he felt his mouth moving.

**“Gigantomachia!”** Joker uttered, the ground well below him instantly breaking from the immense energy Fafnir unleashed into it. The demolished table was the first thing to be swallowed into a giant ravine, the walls of the palace beginning to crumble away. The entire palace shook as chunks fell away, large cracks running all the way up to the roof. 

“Is this it, guys?” Panther asked, her voice cracking from fear as she felt the ground beneath her body beginning to break. Everyone else stared in despair around them; the same dread they felt when they disappeared last year reappeared. 

“No!” Noir screamed as the ground completely collapsed under them, a dark chasm awaiting them as the Thieves began to fall.

“Kohryu!” Joker’s voice roared over the Thieves screams, and suddenly they were on solid ground. Violet opened her eyes and let out a gasp; they were all on a giant white dragon. 

“What… we’re still alive, right?” Fox asked, disbelief cutting through his voice as he felt the scales of the dragon underneath him.

“I… think so?” Queen responded, unable to hide her confusion from the rest of the group. Violet looked around wildly.

“Where’s Akira?” She asked, fear deep in her heart as she continued scanning the destroyed room for her beloved.

“You were asking for me?” his voice called from in front of the Thieves, causing everyone to look over as he calmly walked towards them. He was back in his normal Thieves clothes, no tendrils of light in his back as he smiled directly at Violet. She attempted to push herself up, but was quickly reminded of her injuries as she fell back down onto Kohryu. Keeping her head up, she could barely see Joker due to her blurred vision. “Madiarahan.” Suddenly, green energy rushed into the Thieves, instantly healing their injuries. Violet jumped up to her feet just as she saw Joker stumble slightly.

“Joker!” She yelled, rushing towards him in time to put her hand on his chest to support him. He gave her a weak grin as she looked over his body; blood was running down his back from multiple now closed wounds. “What… what happened?” Violet asked tentatively.

“Sorry about that, just a little tired is all,” Joker chuckled to himself, straightening his back as he fought back the migraine prevalent in his mind. Violet’s eyes were glued onto his face, worry on her face as the rest of the Thieves caught up with them.

“Joker! Are you alright?” Fox questioned their leader, receiving a nod in response.

“Yeah, but what about you guys? I’m sorry that you had to go through th-” Joker began just as the palace began to shake violently once again. Then, without warning, the entire palace collapsed onto the Thieves, causing them all to throw their hands above them except for Joker.

“Wha-” Violet breathed out after realizing they werem’t crushed by the debris, opening her eyes again to see Joker’s face deep in concentration as psychic energy was pushing the pieces of the palace around Kohryu. As the last chunk of debris fell to the ground, Joker’s body relaxed as he winced again; using this much energy in short bursts made his mind feel like it was splitting in two. He reached into his coat and procured the thermos; he could feel a little bit more coffee in there, and he breathed out a sigh of relief as he unscrewed the top of it and drank it down. A warm feeling shot through his body as his migraine died down, moving his attention back to his friends in front of him. 

“Joker, are you okay?” Noir asked the leader again. Joker was about to respond as a loud rumble was heard above them. As the Thieves all looked into the sky, shielding their eyes from the rain and biting wind, they collectively let out a gasp.

“What… the hell…” Panther muttered, eyes wide in terror. Above them was a gigantic orb of pure white light, easily dwarfing the size of the Holy Grail from the previous year. The wind howled around the Thieves as Joker forced Kohryu to the ground. 

“Come on; we still have work to do!” Joker exclaimed, the Thieves all getting off the ultimate persona of the Hierophant persona except for Violet and Skull. Joker grinned at his girlfriend as he approached her, putting his arm around her which elicited an “eep” from her in response. Skull rolled his eyes at them before turning to jump down as well. 

“What, you want me to hold you as well?” Joker asked with mock sincerity in his voice. 

“Ah suddup, man!” Skull chuckled to himself before jumping off, leaving Joker and Violet alone on Kohryu.

“You ready? This is finally it!” Joker exclaimed, receiving an enthusiastic nod from the redhead before jumping down to the ground, Kohryu disappearing and his mask coming back onto his face. He immediately took note of his surroundings; the palace was completely destroyed, with most of the rubble either on the ground or within the deep ravines all around them. Rain was pouring down onto them, the roar of the wind causing his cape to blow wildly behind him. He saw that they were on an island surrounded by nothing but ravines. 

“This… is completely insane…” Mona said under his breath, looking around at the sudden hellscape that was around them before his eyes fell onto the being of light.

“What… what is that?” Queen asked the obvious question, everyone else’s eyes landing on the being. Before anyone could respond, the head let out a sinister chuckle that echoed around them.

_ “HUMANITY HAD PLACED THEIR FAITH IN YOU, TRICKSTER, TO BECOME THEIR SAVIOR, TO LEAD THE TO A FUTURE BRIGHTER THAN THEY COULD EVEN IMAGINE. YOU HAVE FAILED THEM ALL, BUT…”  _ The being stopped booming, it’s pure, mystical light intensifying, forcing the Thieves to shield their eyes.  _ “I, YHWH, THE GOD ABOVE ALL OTHER GODS, WILL GRANT THEM THEIR DESIRES!” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this chapter was fun to write. It's shorter than the last one(4.5k words isn't short, but still), but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! The next chapter is the big fight, so I'm going to do everything I can to make it as awesome as possible!


	9. Chapter 9

The Thieves all stood in shock as thousands upon thousands of shadow began appearing from thin air around YHWH. The god simply laughed at them as they stared dumbly at the seemingly infinite amount of shadows overhead. _“THE KINGDOM OF LIGHT WILL COME WHETHER YOU COMPLY OR NOT, TRICKSTER. YOU CAN AVERT ALL PAIN FOR YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES IF YOU TAKE YOUR PLACE AS HUMANITY’S RULER!”_ YHWH boomed, the shadows growing restless around him.

“Guys, can we take this on…?” Skull asked, taking a step back into the center of the island. Joker took a deep breath; ‘This ends now, no matter what!’ he exclaimed within his mind, feeling all the Arcanas burning with determination as he stared straight up at the god.

“None of us want a life that isn’t our own; that’s why we’re here, to defeat you once and for all!” Joker roared, and instantly all of the shadows blotting out the sky rushed down towards them, the Thieves all gripping tight their weapons in one hand with the other on their masks.

“Persona!” They shouted in unison, Joker’s voice roaring over them as Arsene rose above his friends' personae, eyes glowing a darker shade of red mixed with black. He couldn’t help himself as he felt the Justice Arcana frenzy as a crazed grin crossed his face. 

“Senpai?” Violet looked over at her boyfriend, immediately becoming concerned from the sinister look in his eyes; mainly because they were still his color of grey, indicating that he was still in control over his body. At her voice Joker’s eyes flashed in surprise for a split second before giving Violet a sheepish grin.

“Dammit Akechi! Not that much!” Joker quietly admonished his dead rival, only Violet able to hear him. However, she didn’t get a chance to question him as the shadows fell upon them, immediately charging for the Thieves’ personae. Skull and Mona stood next to each other, fighting shadows from the Chariot and Magician Arcana minus the two ultimate personae, Chi You and Futsunushi.

“Damn, these things are even tougher than I remember!” Skull shouted out as he smacked away a line of Jack-o-lantern’s in one swing, the shadows righting themselves mid air before charging at him again. “Mona, watch out!” Skull warned as he willed William to fire a bolt of electricity right behind the cat, destroying a cluster of Sandmen as they rushed towards Mona.

“Thanks, Skull!” Mona shouted back, hacking through tens of Cait Sith, more and more appearing from nowhere as he killed each one. “Whoa!” Mona exclaimed as he dodged backwards, narrowly dodging three separate pillars of fire spaced on after another. As he landed, Mona noticed three Cerberus falling onto the island as the other shadows slowed down their assault. The Cerberus roared into the sky before rushing towards Mona, the cat not having enough time to dodge again.

“William!” Skull’s persona rammed into the center Cerberus, stopping in front of the other two as they rammed into the ship. The center Cerberus slid backwards, barely looking injured as Skull ran to Mona’s side, calling back William into his mask. Just as he stopped, he realized the three shadows had fire coalescing in their mouths and took a step in front of Mona. Flames instantly shot towards him, burning his skin but leaving Mona unharmed. Thankfully, his natural fire resistance made the fire burn less, but it still hurt like hell.

“Skull!” Mona focused on Diego to heal Skull; the persona was skewering a White Rider and a Queen Mab with his rapier, the two shadows turning to dust as the persona turned towards the two. The Cerberus stopped shooting their flames at Skull, the blonde struggling to stay on his feet. “Diarah-urgh-Diarahan!” Mona managed to get out, gritting his teeth as the world began to spin; keeping his persona out for so long was mentally taxing; adding onto all the healing skills he’s used up to this point, he was well beyond his limit. 

Skull caught himself before he fell to the ground, his burns instantly healing as green energy filled his body. Some flames lingered on his body, but he could ignore them, at least for now. He looked behind to see Mona struggling to stay on his tiny feet, simply giving the cat a grin; he was feeling it too. None of the Thieves ever considered actually riding on their personae except for Queen, and, despite William being a huge persona, carrying everyone taxed his mind. “We don’t have time feeling sleepy!” Skull kept his grin as Mona hopped next to him, their eyes locking as a horde of all the shadows of the Magician and Chariot Arcana surrounded them, minus Chi You and Futsunushi. Mona and Skull’s eyes locked, their personae disappearing back into their masks, both of them wearing huge grins as they saw the look in the other’s eyes. “You ready for _that_ , Mona?” Skull asked, Mona simply nodding his head as he began gathering up all the energy within himself, Skull doing the same. Harsh winds and crackling lightning began to gather around the two, growing stronger and stronger. The shadows charged at them, approaching their location at incredible speed.

_“Wait, you want to do something like that?” Morgana exclaimed, the two having just left Leblanc and standing at the corner of the nearby intersection. Rryuji looked back at the black cat who was now staring at him in total shock, a grin on his face as he lifted his shoulders before letting them back down, his right shoulder noticeably moving less due to Morgana’s weight._

_“Yeah, but more as a last stand sort of thing,” Ryuji responded. “I mean, it’s safe to assume that whatever is in Akira’s heart that can do this is one helluva opponent, so we need something like this, right?”_

_“Hm… I guess you’re right,” Morgana closed his eyes in thought before reopening them, returning Ryuji’s grin; he was beginning to get excited about it. “We never had the chance to do an attack like this as Phantom Thieves, Ryuji. I’m actually kind of excited; you can be kind of annoying and a loud mouth, but besides Akira you’re my closest friend.” Ryuji stared back at the cat, a mixture of emotions in his eyes before he scoffed at him._

_“You’re one to talk, Morgana,” Ryuji shot back before his face softened into a smile. “But yeah, I agree with you on the last part. You’re an amazing friend, Mona, so let’s kick some ass!”_

“Thunderous Typhoon!” the two erupted, ripping off their masks as their personae soared above them. Diego took a spot right next to William on its ship as their eyes flashed green and yellow respectively, the shadows nearly upon the two Thieves below. Then, without any warning, intense winds began spinning around the two Thieves, immediately sucking in the shadows around them. The winds began tearing through the weaker shadows, with the stronger ones unable to escape the impossibly strong winds. Mona’s eyes were pure green as he focused everything into the attack, his head splitting from the insane amount of power he was using. Skull’s eyes then flashed bright yellow as storm clouds gathered directly above the helpless shadows. Throwing his body above Mona’s, Skull put his full power into William as electricity began crackling within the sky above and, in an instant, giant bolts of lightning cracked down onto the ground, tearing through the shadows trapped within Diego’s winds. Both the persona user’s eyes flashed even brighter as the attack seemed to let up slightly, before one final gust of wind brought the remaining shadows into one cluster line above Skull and Mona. Skull made sure Mona was entirely underneath him as he released all his power into one final lightning strike, destroying all the remaining shadows. All except one: a single Thor remained, badly injured as it floated onto the ground before the two.

“Damn… we still have one more?” Skull panted, his mind screaming at him to stop as William disappeared back into his subconscious. The same happened with Mona and Diego, the cat barely able to feel his body; thankfully Skull’s body had blocked the final lightning attack, or he wouldn’t be standing there.

“Skull, follow my lead!” Mona exclaimed as he forcefully pushed his exhaustion aside, jumping onto Skull’s back. The blonde looked back in surprise before letting out a low chuckle as he saw something in Joker’s chest glow blue as he and Mona felt immense power coursing through their bodies. He turned his head, locking eyes with Mona.

“You wanna go at it, for old times sake?” Skull asked as he threw Mona onto the other side of the shadow, their scenery instantly changing. They were within Joker’s room, all of the decorations gone, the room as bare as when he got there almost two years ago. Thor stood in between the two, in a daze as the two persona users began walking towards each other, seemingly not noticing the shadow in between.

“You damn annoying cat!” Skull shouted, swinging Imprisoned Mjolnir at the shadow. The hit made the shadow double over, grasping its stomach as Mona lifted Claiomh Solais behind it.

“You vulgar ape!” Mona shouted back at Skull, swinging the blade at Thor’s back. The shadow reeled backwards, eyes full of pain as a roar escaped its mouth. The two Thieves pulled back their weapons, taking a deep breath in.

“You’re absolutely useless!” They both shouted in unison as Imprisoned Mjolnir slammed into the shadow’s head, sending Thor to its knees. Mona drove Claiomh Solais into the shadow’s heart before ripping it back out. The two then dropped their melee weapons, Skull withdrawing Megido Fire and Mona taking out Sudarshana. They directed their weapons directly at the prone shadow, huge grins on their faces.

“That last one was for you,” they said together, firing their weapons directly into the face of the near dead shadow. Thor burst into black dust, the scenery around the two returning back to the hellscape within Joker’s heart.

* * *

“Panther, watch out!” Fox shouted as he slashed through three Eligors at once. Panther took the word of caution from him and rolled to her right, narrowly avoiding a massive amount of psychic energy collapsing around her. Finishing her roll, she jumped back to her feet, back to back with Fox as shadows of the Lovers and Emperor Arcana surrounded them. Before either one could say anything, a chunk of ice was sent flying towards Panther. Fox barely got in front of her in time, slicing through the ice with Usumidori. However, some of the ice still hit Panther, a larger chunk hitting her in her right leg as she fell to the ground.

“Urgh!” Panther gasped in pain as she held her leg, Fox whipping himself around to see the ice seeping into her body. Without any further thought Fox bent down and removed the ice with his right hand, his left deftly procuring a Takemedic he bought earlier that day, after Skull and Mona talked to them. He sprayed the injured leg as Gorokichi managed to keep the shadows at bay, Fox quickly tiring as he put more energy into his persona than normal. 

“Thank you, Fox!” Panther exclaimed as she jumped back to her feet, her hand accidentally hitting Fox in the face as she ascended. “Oh my god, I am so sor-”

“We don’t have time for apologies, Panther. Call Celestine forth; we shall rid these ourselves of these shadows, once and for all!” Fox declared, not even attempting to mask the pure excitement in his voice.

“Wait, you want to do what we discussed now?” Panther asked before ripping off her mask, willing Celestine to support Gorokichi as the two discussed the plan. Fox simply nodded, his grin growing even larger.

“Remember what I said? That we should use it only in the most dire situations; now is that time, wouldn’t you agree?” Fox questioned the blonde girl, who stared at him in disbelief before her face softened, a smile crossing her face as she remembered the conversation they had after Skull and Mona left for Queen and Noir.

_“Yusuke, what should we do?” Ann asked, her mind torn; after the talk with Ryuji and Morgana, she didn’t know where she was, what she was doing. She had betrayed Akira yet again, and her heart couldn’t take it as tears began welling up. To her surprise, Yusuke straightened his back and looked her in the eyes; there was nothing but calm in there._

_“It’s eating at me as well, but we don’t have time to mope; if we did, I would be right there with you,” Yusuke told Ann, his eyes laser focused on hers. “However, Akira is in trouble right now, at least according to those two. They said to meet at Leblanc later today, so that’s what I’m going to do.” Ann stared at the bluenette; she had seen the pain on his face after Morgana confronted him, but now she saw nothing but fire in his eyes. The determination she saw in him, the confidence she heard from him; it made her realize just how stupid she was being. Ann slapped her cheeks hard, Yusuke not even flinching from the sudden act as she looked back at him._

_“You’re completely right, Yusuke. But they said later today; what can we do before then?” Ann asked. Yusuke put his hand to his chin in thought, eyes closing for a split second before shooting back open._

_“It’s clear to me! Panther,” Yusuke started, the light in his eyes glowing even brighter with Ann being taken aback by him calling her by her Thief name. “What we need to do is come up with a final move, something that we should use only in the most dire situations. I know we have our Showtime attack, but that’s for one enemy; we need something big, something that involves our personas!”_

_All Ann could do was smile at the excited teen; just at the bare description she began to feel excited, her heart beginning to increase as Yusuke started walking towards the station. “Where are you going?” She asked, following close behind him._

_“I believe it will do us good to discuss it down here so, when we’re good and ready, we can depart for Yongen-Jaya post haste!”_

“Panther! Let’s do it!” Fox shouted at Panther, the girl snapping out of her quick memory. The two both called back their personae, both of them focusing deep within them as they gathered up all their energy. As they did, fire began burning into existence around Panther despite the torrent of rain around her with ice beginning to coat the ground around Fox. Their eyes changed colors; Panther’s burning a bright red as Fox’s turned a piercing blue.

“Glacial Eruption!” They simultaneously shouted, ripping their masks off in tandem as their personae roared into existence, their eyes the same color as their users. The shadows continued their frenzied rush towards the two as an intense ice storm began around them, immediately biting into the vulnerable shadows. However, some of them were unaffected by the ice, weaving around the frozen shadows as they rushed towards Panther and Fox. Just as they were about to reach them, Panther pushed Fox to the ground as Celestine’s eyes burned a brighter red, red hot magma appearing directly overhead. The incoming shadows didn’t have enough time to dodge as the magma shot up towards them, finding its mark square in the shadows’ chests, tearing through most of them. Fox’s eyes grew even colder as the ice around the inflicted shadows grew brittle until breaking, the broken ice impaling itself through the surrounding shadows. However, hundreds of shadows were still above them, but all clumped together. They had avoided the icy gale around them as well as the inferno below, but Panther and Fox simply grinned even bigger.

“The Finale!” They both shouted in unison. As the words left their mouths, the air above the shadows became freezing cold, giant icicles forming within the cold air. Below them the magma grew even hotter, burning with even more intensity. Without warning, the icicles shot towards the ground, seemingly homing into the shadows as each one found a target. As the icicle barrage hit the shadows, the inferno below bubbled just before a ginormous pillar of molten magma shot up, engulfing the impaled shadows as their flesh was torn away, leaving nothing but black dust. The magma and the ice disappeared, the two Thieves well past their limits as their masks reformed onto their faces. 

“We… we did i- Damn it…” Panther began before a Raphael slammed onto the ground, it’s armor scorched from the magma and looking close to death. 

“Was it due to my ice that it stayed alive?” Fox pondered; he recalled that Raphael absorbed ice attacks, but shook his head as he reached for Usumidori. “Panther, it is time to show it true grace!” As he finished, they both felt an immense power flow through them. Grins covered their faces as they lept towards the weakened shadow, the scenery around them becoming a traditional japanese style room with tatami flooring with eccentric colors draping the walls. 

Fox and Panther were within the center of the room, with another room containing the dazed archangel. Panther had a parasol in her arms, sitting on her legs almost as royalty would with Fox kneeling beside her, his hands on Usumidori and his back straight. 

“Wield your beauty; let it be your weapon!” Fox shouted out, jumping into the air as Panther stood straight, gracefully spinning her parasol around her before letting it fall, revealing her Dainaraka Whip in her hands.

“After all,” She began, readying her whip in her hand. “Looks can kill!” Panther yelled, hitting the tatami in front of her, sending it flying into the other room with Raphael and Fox. The floorboards seemed to stop midair as Fox dashed behind one directly in front of the stunned shadow, kneeling away from it. 

“You’re fate… is sealed!” he let out as he unsheathed Usumidori and, with a flourish, stabbed directly behind him. The blade cut through the tatami with ease, sending cutting waves through the others around as the shadow simply stared in shock at the two persona users. Panther slowly walked towards Fox, getting down onto the ground gracefully as Fox struck a magnificent pose.

“Enthralled?”

“Enchanted?”

The two asked just as the shadows eyes widened even further, the delayed cut from Fox destroying it. Letting out two sighs, the scenery turned back to the battlefield, the rain hitting their faces as they felt their exhaustion catch up with them.

* * *

“Let’s go, Noir!” Queen shouted, gripping her fists around Gorodias with Noir bringing her giant axe, Fleurs du Mal, upwards. The horde of shadows around them were those of the High Priestess and Empress Arcana, already fighting Lucy in the air above. Noir’s persona simultaneously was using both gun skills as well as Psychokinesis, something she’s never accomplished before now. However, it was putting a large amount of mental strain onto her, but she forced herself to continue on; Joker needed her to stay strong. 

Queen noticed the fatigue quickly setting in on Noir’s face and quickly jumped onto Agnes, shooting forward as she rammed into a cluster of Apsaras and Isis, destroying the shadows as nuclear energy coalesced in front of the persona. Suddenly turning her persona, Agnes sent forward the wave of nuclear energy into a Scathach. Agnes slid to a stop as Queen saw the shadow get knocked back into the hordes of shadows before a Kiruki-Hime healed the shadow. “Dammit…” Queen cursed as she rode back over to Noir to figure out a plan of attack. 

As she was riding back, Queen saw a trio of Titania fire balls of nuclear energy straight at Noir. Queen pushed more energy into her persona, a splitting headache shooting into her head as she put out her right hand. She was barely able to grab Noir just as the attacks landed, destroying part of the ground and sending Queen and Noir flying. They landed not too far away, the both of them scrambling to their feet as their masks returned to their faces as they looked around; they were completely surrounded by shadows.

“Queen, watch out!” Noir shouted out, lifting her axe as she shoved Queen out of the way of a charging Skadi. Ice flew from the hands of the shadow, hitting Noir square in the chest, but she stood her ground, gritting her teeth through the immense pain as she ripped her axe diagonally through the surprised shadow. “Huff… that was thanks for earlier…” Noir panted, her usually formal attitude dropping with her closest friend.

“Noir! Here, let me help you with that!” Queen exclaimed as she summoned Agnes next to her, green energy immediately flowing into Noir. The wound closed back up in Noir’s chest, but Queen grabbed her head as her headache became even worse. Before Noir could go over to help her, Queen let a small grin cross her face as she looked over at her peer.

“Noir, let’s do you-know-what!” Queen said excitedly, Noir immediately sharing that grin.

_“We failed Akira yet again; that’s the facts we have in front of us,” Makoto said bluntly, Haru wincing at the hard truth. “However, that changes right now. Haru, he’s done so much for us; we both know that whatever we do it will never be enough, at least for us.” Haru nodded solemnly at the last statement; Akira has continually underplayed the role he has had in her life, in helping her become the person she is today, but she knew how much she was indebted to him._

_“What are you suggesting we do, Mako-chan?” Haru asked, determination breaking through her sorrow. Makoto smiled at her before turning around, exiting the library with Haru behind her._

_“First off we should cancel that request for Akira to transfer here for the last trimester; thinking back on it, it was stupid of us to even think that we could force Akira to come back here,” Makoto said, a downtrodden look on her face._

_“But we didn’t have control over ourselves, Mako-chan,” Haru reassured her friend, placing her hand onto Makoto’s shoulder. The former student council president looked over at Haru and nodded, her smile reappearing on her face._

_“After we do that, I think we should discuss a new attack,” Makoto added, causing Haru’s face to squish up in confusion. “I know we already have our Showtime, but we don’t know how many enemies we’ll be fighting, that is if we even are going to be fighting at all. To fully help Akira, we need to plan out the biggest attack possible if we’re ever pushed to our limits; sound good?” Haru simply stared at her close friend, amazement in her eyes before she nodded her head._

_“Of course that’s okay! I can’t wait for Akira to see us do whatever you have in mind!” Haru joyfully jumped, the floors creaking slightly beneath her. The two looked down and then back at each other before giggling, moving towards the principal's office._

“Let’s do it, Queen!” Noir shouted back, grins forming on both of their faces as their eyes flashed pink and blue respectively, nuclear energy swirling around Queen while psychokinetic energy pulsed around Noir. The shadows noticed the sudden increase in power and charged at the two girls.

“Shifting Detonation!” They shouted in unison. Psychic energy immediately surrounded all the shadows around them, Lucy standing behind Noir as the persona forced all the shadows directly in front of Noir and Queen. As the shadows all clumped together against their will, Queen jumped into the air, landing on top of a speeding Agnes as an immense amount of nuclear energy surrounded the persona. 

As she rocketed towards the vulnerable horde of shadows, she focused beneath Agnes. Just as she was about to go underneath the cluster, a large explosion of nuclear energy shot Agnes straight up into the air, Queen flipping backwards off of the persona as it headed straight for the cluster. Noir noticed this, her eyes glowing an even more intense pink as she forced the shadows at the bottom to move along with the shadows in the middle to move out, creating a hollow sphere of shadows as the nuclear Agnes shot into the middle. Once Noir couldn’t see Agnes any longer, she forced the shadows together towards the persona. Her mind screamed at her due to the mental focus she needed to keep, but she held her ground as Queen let the energy surrounding Agnes explode out. Noir also released the hold around the shadows at the same time, the two alumni’s minds somehow in sync as Lucy opened her skirt, revealing the wide array of guns pointing directly at the cluster. 

Nuclear energy burst out as the shadows nearest to Agnes were destroyed instantly, the nuclear blast reaching all of the shadows. The attack destroyed half of the shadows, scattering the other shadows around the area but still in front of Lucy. Queen’s mask reappeared on her face, allowing Noir to unleash all of Lucy’s power onto the remaining shadows. Massive bullets erupted from the chambers of Lucy’s guns, ripping and tearing through the bodies of the falling shadows.

The two girls let out a huge sigh, Lucy disappearing as the last bullet demolished the last shadow. Or at least Noir thought as a Kali landed onto the ground, heavily wounded as it stared at the two girls, hatred in its eyes. Noir and Queen stumbled forward until they stood side by side before grinning at each other. No words had to be spoken between the two; the sudden increase in power proved that as they lept into the air, the scenery around them shifted to a wrestling ring with Kali in the middle.

The two landed right outside the ring, a fake roar from cognitions all around them as they entered the ring. 

“Pardon me…” Noir said shyly, waving around at the cognitions while Queen cracked her neck and knuckles.

“Bring it,” she said threateningly before pointing in the air, Noir following suit.

“Showtime!” Noir shouted, Queen running out in front of her. Queen hit the Kali with her forearm, sending the red skinned shadow into the ropes. Noir jumped into the air as the shadow bounced back towards the two, Queen moving aside as the fluffy haired teen drop kicked the Kali, making it stumble backwards again. Too dazed to do anything, the shadow stood there as Queen lifted a metal chair as Noir watched in awe.

“This is gonna hurt!” Queen shouted as she slammed the chair onto the shadow’s head, leaving it there as Kali slumped to the ground.

“How brutal!” Noir said in mock concern, hands over mouth before removing them, grinning over at Queen. The two only looked at each for half a second before sprinting towards opposite corners of the ring, climbing onto the posts.

“Noir!” Queen shouted over, the cognitions roaring at the brutality of the mock wrestling match.

“Leave it to me!” Noir shouted back, waving over at her friend. She then grabbed her hat, her other hand pointing at the cognitions in the crowd. “Ready, set!” She began, both of the girls jumping high into the sky. Gravity pulled them back down to earth as they brought down their elbows onto the shadow.

“Double Death Blow!” They shouted in unison, the Kali exploding into black dust from the sheer power from the two. They then jumped back into the air, landing not too far away and struck a final pose; Noir holding her hands up in a heart, and Queen holding her right arm up in a flex motion.

As they stood there, they felt the rain begin to hit their faces once again as the scenery shifted once more back to the battlefield, their exhaustion hitting them all at once.

“Senpai! They’re doing it!” Violet shouted in glee, Joker merely grinning as he saw the others utterly destroy the horde of shadows they were facing. 

_“Come on, let’s create a bloodbath!”_ Joker heard Akechi screaming in his mind as he threw a hand up to his mouth, stopping himself short of saying the exact same thing. ‘Dammit Akechi! Not now!’ Joker internally chastised his rival, the brown haired boy inside him practically growling in frustration back at him.

“Senpai! They’re coming right for us!” Violet’s yell snapped Joker out of his argument with Akechi as he looked up to see hundreds of shadows racing towards them, coming from the Faith, Fool, and Hermit Arcana.

“Joker, I’ll back you two up however I can!” Oracle shouted as she focused inward, calling on Al Azif to give her its powers. She never attempted to use any of its abilities outside of being in the persona, but she knew it was possible; the only problem was that it took an insane amount of mental strength to do so. However, this was a dire situation, so she threw her all into it as she saw a screen flicker into existence in front of her. “I can only use basic buffing skills and can’t heal for too much, but I’ll do what I can!” As she said that, Oracle messed around on the screen, hitting one last button.

Red energy swirled around Joker and Violet that filled them with strength. “An attack buff; thank you, Oracle!” Joker called back, feeling his blood boil in excitement as he willed Arsene into the horde of shadows. “Demolish them, Arsene!” Joker roared, the persona ripping and tearing his way through the shadows, throwing out blasts of cursed energy at shadows weak to the element. In mere seconds Arsene had killed fifty shadows of varying strength, leaving Violet, Oracle, and every other Thief in complete awe at the strength of their leader.

“Wow… I can’t believe it…” Violet breathed out, completely entranced by how Arsene didn’t simply cut through the shadows, he _danced_ through them. Each swipe of his claws, each kick of his legs through an unaware shadow was done with extreme grace that she couldn’t help but just watch.

“Hey, you just gonna stand there in awe?” Joker’s words snapped her back to reality as she looked over at him. He was mimicking Arsene’s movements as Paradise Lost glided through shadows with ease, his grin growing bigger and wilder with every shadow he destroyed. The rush of the shadows stopped just long enough for Joker to look over at Violet again, only this time with concern in his eyes.

“Watch out!” he yelled as he sent out his grappling hook. Violet instinctively ducked down, hearing Joker whizz past her and heard his knife slice through a shadow that was behind her. She stood back up, her heart beating fast as she saw the man she loved standing tall right in front of her, beaming at her as he offered her his hand.

“You want to do something like they did?” Joker asked his beloved, Akechi goading him on within his mind. Violet looked into his eyes and, after a second of thinking, understood what he was talking about.

“Of course, Senpai!” Violet exclaimed, turning towards the shadows rushing towards them once again. “Ella!” She commanded her persona to her side as Joker turned around in one motion.

“Arsene!” He screamed, not able to contain the bloodlust Akechi was filling his mind with. Violet caught it but shook her head; she can talk about it with him later. She proudly walked next to Joker, head held high as she saw Kasumi within her mind’s eye, smiling at her with nothing but love in her eyes. 

“This is the least I can do for you guys!” Oracle yelled from behind them as pink energy filled them; some of their mental exhaustion left them, making the strain of having their personae out much less taxing on their minds. Joker and Violet both nodded behind them in thanks before looking back at the horde of shadows quickly coming towards them.

“The light that shows us the truth,” Violet began, blessed energy gathering in Ella’s hands.

“The darkness that keeps us grounded,” Joker continued, cursed energy gathering within Arsene’s hands.

“Both of them by themselves blind us.”

“But together, they will lead humanity…” Joker trailed off, both of them closing their eyes as they saw Akechi and Kasumi looking back at them, genuine smiles on both their faces.

“Towards freedom!” They roared into the sky, Arsene and Ella fully unleashing their full power towards the shadows. Cursed and blessed energy danced around each other, drawing in each other until they fused together into one beam of energy, neither cursed nor blessed but something new entirely, stronger than either element by itself. The beam instantly destroyed the shadows in front, then the ones behind them; it pierced through even the strongest of shadows as Arsene and Ella directed the combined beam along the sea of shadows in the sky. Violet began to shake; using all this power at once was causing the world to spin around her, but Joker reached over and grabbed her hand. She looked up at his eyes to see his smiling face. Her mind immediately went blank, forgetting the exhaustion she was feeling not even a second prior as she smiled back. Then she gasped as she felt energy enter into her body; Joker had winced slightly when she felt it, so her mind connected two and two together.

“Senpai, don’t! You need it just as much as m-” Violet began, but Joker put a gloved finger up to her lips, his smile getting wider as he leaned towards her.

“Trust me, I’ll be fine. I need you to be at your strongest though so you can pick me back up when I need it,” Joker reassured her, pulling his hand away to see the stunned look on her face. He walked past her as Arsene and Ella stopped their attack, a Siegfried slamming into the ground. Violet flipped around at the sudden rumble underneath her feet, grabbing for her Sword of Sinai as Joker gripped Paradise Lost even harder. She walked right beside him and they both felt their power grow immensely. Something that Violet didn’t know they both felt was the other person in them, waiting for the Showtime to begin.

“After you, m’lady,” Joker bowed towards Violet, holding his hand out as she took it. ‘Akechi, we’ll do it after this,’ Joker promised his frenzying rival as he and his beloved jumped into the air. Joker let go of Violet as the scenery changed around them into a set of stairs that looked like they belonged in Kamoshida’s castle. Joker let his grappling hook fly, eventually feeling it stick into something above him as he lept into the air, shooting towards a lone Violet in front of him.

“Senpai!” She shouted in glee as she jumped in his arms, both of them flying into a beautiful church with Siegfried in the center, dazed from the previous attack from Arsene and Ella. Joker grabbed hold of Tyrant Pistol and, pointing it directly at the shadow, began letting his bullets fly as he and Violet flew around the shadow. Each bullet ripped through the shadow until it was barely able to stand any longer, which Joker knew it was time. He pushed Violet out of his arm ever so slightly, giving her a spin as he clasped his hand around hers before letting go. She flew into the sky, seemingly stopping in the air before falling down to the injured shadow. Joker hung in the air as he saw her gracefully dance around the shadow, the Sword of Sinai cutting through it like butter. ‘Wait… what?’ Joker frowned as he realized that the shadow was going to survive the attack by some miracle. 

_“Joker!”_

Joker sighed as he jumped to the ground, his grapple whizzing back into place. As Violet finished her attack, the shadow recoiled in pain, but wasn’t killed just as Joker feared. Joker landed near his girlfriend, but they didn’t do their final pose. Instead, Joker reached up for his mask; he needed to do this.

“Metatron!” Joker roared, the scenery instantly changing to a dark alleyway, the one that he performed the Showtime attack against Akechi’s cognition. He felt himself losing control as his mouth curled up into a wicked grin. Metatron didn’t need any orders from him as it flew into the sky, Joker rushing forward towards the badly injured Siegfried. Metatron dove back down, slamming its fist into the shadows head just as Joker reached it.

“Die… DIE!” He screamed, internally wincing as he knew his friends were watching him tear through the shadow just as Akechi would do. He pulled back and stabbed straight through the shadow’s head, killing it then and there without Metatron needing to fire any attack at it.

“Se-senpai?” he heard Violet’s voice behind him as the scenery returned back to the wasteland of his heart, all of his exhausted friends around the island staring at him in awe and fear. Joker turned around to see Violet standing right in front of him, fear deep in her eyes as she stared into his own. He let out a sigh; he didn’t have a choice but to try and explain what happened, at least to Violet.

“Akechi’s basically living on as a part of me, but he won’t shut the hell up… I’m sorry to worry you,” Joker explained bluntly, expecting Violet to be even more confused but instead her face was one of… recognition? 

“Oh, really?! Because that’s the same way with Kasumi and me! She’s a huge part of our Showtime, Senpai!” Violet excitedly explained, leaving Joker to be the confused one. 

“O-oh, is that right?” Joker asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Hm, well that makes things a lot more interesting…” he muttered to himself as the rest of his friends stumbled towards the two, exhaustion clear on their faces. In fact, the only two not utterly exhausted were Joker and Violet, but that was only because of the energy Joker shared with her; she was still feeling tired.

“Dude… that was awesome!” Skull exclaimed, wincing in pain as he was reminded instantly of his splitting headache. Before Joker could respond, YHWH, who they somehow forgot about, boomed above them.

 **_“_ ** _HMPH, IT APPEARS HUMANITY’S SAVIOR STILL DESIRES TO BETRAY THEM. VERY WELL,_ **_”_ ** its voice rang around them, causing the Thieves to look back up and gasp; another hoard of shadows had appeared beside the god, and Joker could see numerous portals of light from where they were pouring out of. Just like that, the work they just finished was undone. 

“What the hell… is there an end to them?” Panther muttered, very aware of how tired she was. Most of the Thieves could barely stand after using all their energy in that final attack, let alone fight. 

“Heh, I kind of figured it would come to this…” Joker chuckled to himself before stepping forward away from the Thieves, into the middle of the island.

“Joker?” Noir stared at the back of the Thieves’ leader as he stood tall and proud despite the opposition he was against. The shadows all began their descent towards the Thieves, moving much faster than the last horde of shadows. Joker closed his eyes, seeing Akechi’s face looking back at him. He then reopened them to look back at Oracle, who was staring directly at him along with everyone else.

“Oracle, I need you to get into Al Azif and give these guys as much of their mental strength back as possible. Promise me you will,” Joker commanded in a stern voice.

“B-but what about y-” Oracle began, afraid of Joker’s tone of voice.

“Promise me!” Joker yelled, startling all the Thieves at the sudden desperation in his voice. Oracle felt her tear up as she removed her mask, feeling herself get lifted off the ground as Al Azif formed around her.

“Senpai, please… whatever you’re about to do, please let us help!” Violet pleaded, but Joker turned to face the shadows again. His hand still on his mask, he took a deep breath as he ripped it off, immense pressure keeping all the shadows at bay.

“Lucifer!” He roared as loud as he could, feeling the wind stop for a brief second and the rain let up as the ultimate persona of the Star Arcana and second strongest persona he had form behind him, above his friends. 

“Wha… what is he doing?” Fox asked, Violet feeling her legs move on their own as she attempted to move towards him. However, Joker’s eyes flashed a light grey that created a barrier around the Thieves; all except him. Joker grinned as he lifted his right hand out in front of him, Lucifer following his exact movements. 

“No… is he planning on taking them on himself?” Queen shakily wondered, her voice cracking from fear. Violet’s eyes widened in horror as she saw the shadows beginning their descent again towards Joker. She gasped as he turned around and smiled at her.

“I love you.”

She saw come from his lips before he turned back around. A scream erupted from her mouth as she finally realized what was happening as she slammed her fists against the barrier, trying to rip her mask off to have Ella destroy it; all her attempts in vain.

“Morning Star!” Joker roared as he closed his fist, Lucifer following suit as energy high above them began to grow closer. Then, without warning, Almighty energy crashed down onto the horde of shadows, instantly destroying them all. 

Joker didn’t feel anything anymore despite the Almighty energy tearing away at his skin. With seemingly no effort he looked around to see the shadows being destroyed by the attack, to see his friends all safe, and forced all his energy he had left into the attack as the Almighty energy covered the sky entirely, engulfing all of the portals that was streaming the Shadows into the world and decimating them entirely. He let out a light chuckle as his skin began burning off, revealing muscle underneath.

As soon as the attack began it had ended, leaving no shadows alive in its wake. Joker stood still, his clothes in tatters, his entire body in disrepair. “Now… it’s up to you all…” he breathed out as he fell backwards, chest stilling. The Thieves all stared at him in disbelief, tears forming in their eyes. 

“No… Not him too...” Violet shakily breathed out, her mind going blank at the sight before her. Her body wouldn’t move; the grief was too much as tears began rolling down her cheeks, her mouth wide open in horror. “Akira!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fight has not truly begun yet! This chapter was probably my favorite one to work on so far, but I feel like that won't last long as I hit double digit chapters. Anyway, feel free to leave a question down in the comments(or any critique) and I'll get around to answering them! Thank you for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

“You’re shittin me…” Skull breathed, tears falling down his face as he stared at the body of his best friend. All the Thieves could do was stare at Joker’s unmoving body in ruin from the attack from Lucifer. He was back in his normal clothes, no sign of Lucifer or any other persona around. Suddenly, Violet broke off from the rest of the Thieves as she ran towards Joker, tears flying from her face as she slid onto her knees. 

“No… Please... Don’t leave me!” Violet begged, sobs shaking her body as she gently lifted Joker’s head and stared at his closed eyes. “I… can’t live without you… you are my world! I can’t have you die as well!” Violet screamed in pain at the still body, her tears flowing freely down onto his body. The rest of the Thieves looked at her, eyes filled with pity and regret.

“Joker…” Noir muttered, not able to hold back as tears streamed down her face. 

“Why… why did he sacrifice himself for us?” Fox questioned, unable to hide the overwhelming pain in his voice as his tears fell to the ground, creating a miniature puddle at his feet.

“Akira… after everything he’s done for us... The world... He did this?” Queen shook her head, her hand held to her mouth as she couldn’t hold back her tears. 

“Joker… Please... Please get up!” Panther pleaded as she stared at the still body of her leader, her friend. 

“There’s no way… The story of the Trickster can’t end here!” Mona shouted, large tears falling onto the ground around him as he shook his head.

 _“THIS DID NOT NEED TO HAPPEN, THE TRICKSTER SACRIFICING HIMSELF. IF HE SIMPLY GAVE THE MASSES THEIR WISH, HE AND ALL OF YOU COULD HAVE LIVED IN PARADISE.”_ YHWH boomed above the grieving Thieves, their eyes shooting up to look at the god; all except Violet, who continued staring at Joker’s face now on her lap. _“BUT, IT SEEMS HIS DYING WISH WAS TO SAVE YOU ALL.”_

“What, are you going to send more shadows at us to make his death worthless?” Mona shouted at the faceless god, floating menacingly above them as its light radiated through the pitch black storm clouds billowing throughout the skies.

 _“IT IS DANGEROUS TO ASSUME, MORGANA. WHILE HE COULD NOT STAND UP TO ME, HIS DYING BREATH DESTROYED THE SOLDIERS OF LIGHT’S PATHWAY INTO THIS REALITY.”_ YHWH’s voice echoed throughout the crumbling landscape, shaking each Thieves’ spirit as they stared up at the god. It was completely unharmed, even after Joker’s attack, and their bodies were quickly overwhelmed with a feeling of complete helplessness. What else could they do?

“How do you know my name?” Mona shouted back, his blood beginning to boil. “You know what, nevermind! I don’t give a shit how you know! The only thing I do know is that Akira put himself at risk to give us even a small chance to win, so...” Mona trailed off, closing his eyes as his tears streamed down his face faster, landing within two large puddles forming underneath him. “So I won’t let him down!” Mona’s eyes shot back open as he put everything he had behind the last words, his head splitting from the complete exhaustion he was in. He turned towards the other Thieves, all of them staring in awe at the cat when Skull let a small smile onto his face.

“Heh, you’re absolutely right Mona! I’ve made the mistake of throwing everything away for my happiness once already and I won’t throw it away again! For my sake, and for Akira’s!” Skull shouted into the sky. One by one, the Thieves all closed their eyes and smiled; they all knew that they couldn’t run from reality. Not after everything Akira had done for them, especially not after what he had just done.

_“ARROGANT HUMANS... DON’T YOU SEE THAT YOUR LEADER, THE CHOSEN SAVIOR OF HUMANITY, COULDN’T HARM ME IN THE SLIGHTEST?”_

“Don’t underestimate us!” Panther screamed, fighting back her own tears and splitting headache as she stood beside Mona and Skull.

 _“IF THIS IS YOUR DESIRE, TO FIGHT TO THE END, THEN SO BE IT. KNOW THAT YOU ALL HAVE A PLACE WITHIN THE KINGDOM COME!”_ YHWH shot at them, all its light coalescing within its core. Skull looked over at Joker’s body, Violet still weeping over him and gasped; he saw his chest move. Just as he was about to say something, he felt a warm feeling rush through his body as pink energy filled him with the rest of the Thieves.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, but here’s everything you need to fight back against that jerk!” Oracle exclaimed, the Thieves staring directly above them to see Al Azif floating in the sky. “We don’t want a place in this ‘Kingdom Come’ crap you’re going on about!”

“Heh, thanks Oracle!” Skull shouted up at the girl; he felt his mind calm down as he regained most of his mental strength. “Violet! Can you look over Joker for us?” The grieving girl looked up at the blonde teen in shock, Skull giving her a grin in return. “He’s still alive; I need you to heal him while we hold this bastard back!” As Skull finished, he reached up for his mask and summoned William. He took a step towards the god, who was still building up an insane amount of energy.

_“IT APPEARS I MAY HAVE OVERESTIMATED YOU ALL. WHILE YOU ARE ALL STRONG WILLED, THAT WILLPOWER WILL ONLY BRING YOU PAIN, ARROGANT ONES!”_

“Shut the hell up already!” Panther shouted back as she took a step next to Skull. “You’re the only arrogant one here!” Skull looked over at the girl next to him in shock as her eyes met his. He let a grin on his face when he saw a grin written across her own as the other Thieves jumped up right beside the two, summoning their personas.

 _“IT IS SADDENING THAT YOU BELIEVE THAT, BUT NO MATTER.”_ In a single moment, the impossibly huge orb of light released the energy it had been gathering into a beam of white hot searing light.

“Guys!” Violet shouted as she closed her eyes, still on her knees as the beam of light plummeted towards the Thieves.

 _“Sumire, it’s all right.”_ Violet’s eyes shot back open to see everyone’s personas unleashing their specific element back at the god, meeting the beam of energy in the middle. “Ka-Kasumi?” Violet breathed out.

“Violet! Start… healing him… already!” Skull shouted through gritted teeth, Violet’s eyes shooting towards the source as she saw the Thieves standing tall by each other, their personas in front of them firing beams of energy to fight back YHWH’s attack. Skull looked over at her for a split second, not saying a word but the look in his eyes said everything she needed to hear as she pulled her mask off. 

“Ella! Diarahan!” She yelled, her persona appearing behind her as green energy rushed into Joker’s body. She now saw his chest moving slightly, giving her hope as all his wounds quickly healed. His skin reformed over the exposed muscle, the burns from the Almighty energy healing instantly. However, he didn’t wake up, his breath only steadying as his eyes remained closed. “Senpai! Please, wake up!” Violet begged as she weakly clung to his burnt clothes.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_“Trickster…”_

“Huh?” Akira tried calling out as his eyes shot open, but his mouth wouldn’t move. It felt like he was simultaneously falling but not, surrounded by water but still able to breath. ‘Where am I?’ he thought to himself as nothing but darkness surrounded him.

“ _Joker…”_

‘What is that voice? And where is it coming from?’ Joker’s mind raced wildly, his eyes open but nothing entering into them but darkness. The voice sounded so… familiar, but he couldn’t figure out how as he continued staring into nothingness. An eternity seemed to pass as he continued falling but not, drowning but not before the voice came back.

_“These are nothing but names given to you… masks you wear…”_

“What does that mean?” Akira said, shocking himself as he was able to speak. Before he could continue and ask the voice more questions, it continued on around him.

 _“Akira Kurusu… You are the great sinner of Selflessness… You constantly put others’ happiness above your own, even at the cost of your own health…”_ the voice rang around Akira, each word feeling like a punch in the gut for the teen as he simply listened on. _“And now, due to that overbearing selflessness, you are on death’s doorstep… Due to your desire to protect your friend’s over yourself, you are leaving them to fight alone against that god…”_

“If I didn’t do that, they would have been slaughtered!” Akira shot back. As he did so, a figure suddenly came into existence in front of him. His eyes were wide open as he immediately recognized the being from shape alone, despite the shade covering its body.

“Arsene?” Akira whispered. Arsene simply laughed in front of its shocked user.

 _“You have lost yourself, Akira. You have chosen to throw away yourself for your friends, leaving you in this sorry state,”_ Arsene reprimanded the teen.

“What, are you saying to change who I am?” Akira asked incredulously; was he to throw away his selflessness? Arsene’s laughter grew even more at the question, drawing out even more confusion from the teen.

 _“Now, did I ever say that your sins were evil? No, what you need to do is fully embrace yourself, to know what makes you strong. You need your friends; the bonds you’ve made with them is what gives you your strength, not as Joker, not as the Trickster, but as Akira Kurusu!”_ Arsene practically roared that last part at Akira, but he didn’t wince as he felt something stirring around him. A single light suddenly burned in the distance, cutting through the void as him and Arsene stared at it.

Arsene chuckled to himself before turning back to Akira. _“Akira, it is time,”_ he said, staring into the teen’s eyes. Akira stared back, not knowing what the persona meant until he suddenly felt an immense power behind him.

“Satanael…” he breathed out as his body turned by itself to stare at his ultimate persona, the one that destroyed Yaldabaoth the year prior. His eyes widened in realization as he saw a blue aura beginning to overtake both of the personae. 

Arsene simply laughed as the blue aura became bigger, until Akira could only see his head above the intense energy around him. Akira felt his mind and body relax as he stared at his persona, his other self, and grinned. _“It is time…”_ Arsene continued. _“For our final contract. For you to throw away your mask, to become the one inside you!”_ The light fully engulfed the two personae, the energy at Akira’s core resonating even brighter as the blue orbs floated towards him. Barely able to see, Akira continued staring forward as the two blue orbs of light swirled toward him until he could see and feel nothing but his two personas resonating around him.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Akira! Please, wake up!” Violet shouted at the still unconscious body of her beloved, lightly shaking him as her friends were holding back YHWH’s attack.

“Shit!” Skull shouted as he felt William struggle even more, the pressure of the god’s attack making the Thieves slide backwards. 

“Guys, can we really beat this thing?” Panther called out, gritting her teeth as she felt YHWH’s attack growing closer and closer.

“Just keep at it!” Mona shouted back, his head pounding as he continued to force Diego to fire everything he had at the god.

 _“THIS PAIN IS UNNECESSARY, HUMANS. GIVE YOURSELVES TO ME AND I SHALL MAKE YOU PERFECT!”_ YHWH boomed at the Thieves, his beam ripping completely and utterly through the Thieves’ last defense, their last hope.

“AHH!” Screams of agony were quickly drowned out by the winds and rain rushing around the Thieves as the beam of pure light tore through their personas, slamming into their hands as the sheer force of it nearly broke their bodies entirely upon impact.

“God… dammit!” Skull cursed as the Thieves were all pushed to the edge of the island, barely holding their ground against the god.

“Guys!” Violet shouted, Joker’s head still on her lap as she watched in horror of her friends fighting back YHWH. 

“Violet… get Joker out of here!” Queen shouted, pain evident in her voice as she dug her feet into the ground. Violet looked at her in surprise before shaking her head; she wasn’t going to sit around and watch any longer. She gently laid Joker onto the ground as she stood up, eyes filling with determination as she reached up for her mask.

“Ella!” She screamed into the howling wind, rain battering her face as her evolved persona appeared in front of her.

“Violet, don’t!” Mona shouted, unable to do anything as Violet focused her all on YHWH above her. 

_“EVEN YOU, THE ONE HE HOLDS DEAREST… IT IS SADDENING, BUT VERY WELL.”_ YHWH’s voice echoed throughout the entirety of the world, and the sky was engulfed by the grand scale of the light coming from the god. Violet forced Ella to hold up her hands as the light reached her, cries of agony immediately being ripped from her throat. Ella was destroyed instantaneously, the sheer force of the light nearly engulfing Violet as well as the rest of the Thieves as it shoved them right up to the edge of the island they made their last stand on.

“I-I’m so sorry, Akira…” Violet began choking on her words; this was the end for her, for the Phantom Thieves, but she couldn’t stand around and watch them die. The entirety of the world rumbled as the light threatening the Thieves’ destruction continued to grow, cracks forming within the island the Thieves stood upon as tears began streaming down Violet’s face.

“Everyone… goodbye…” Fox muttered, closing his eyes as his and everyone else's arms gave out.

“It’s not goodbye yet, Fox!” 

At once, all the pain racketing the Thieves’ bodies was gone as the light inching them closer to their demise vanished. “S-Senpai?!” Violet instantly called out, her eyes landing on the man she loved more than anything else as her head shot upwards. He was standing in the center of the island, tall and confident as he stared up at the god. Although his clothes were in tatters, revealing most of his scarred body underneath, Violet saw that Joker was calm, that there was no tension in his body at all.

Then, Violet noticed a single spark of dark red flames flash into existence around Joker before being snuffed out. Another spark, two more; without warning, Violet watched as Joker was completely engulfed in red flames, the rain and wind seemingly bending around him as the rattling of chains was heard all throughout the broken world.

“Jo-Joker?” Everyone breathed at once, Oracle coming down from Al Azif as she couldn’t keep her persona out any longer. All at once, as soon as the flames appeared, they vanished, leaving only Joker standing confidently in front of the Thieves. However, the Thieves’ eyes widened simultaneously; he was no longer in his black coats but was instead clothed in a silver dress shirt with a bright red suit coat surrounding it as well as a black tie hanging loosely from his neck. Tight black jeans adorned his legs, gold studs lining it down his thighs as the heels Joker previously wore were completely overshadowed by the stylish ones covering his feet.

“Dude, how are you surprised about it too?!” Skull shouted at Joker as the teen began turning around, looking down at his arms in relative shock before Skull’s eyes landed onto Joker’s mask; it was the exact same as before, but now dark red energy was pulsing through it. “Joker, what’s up with your ma-”

 _“IT APPEARS YOU HAVE GROWN SUBSTANTIALLY, TRICKSTER,”_ YHWH interrupted Skull’s question, eyes filled with rage as he stared down at the changed leader. Joker smirked as he turned on his heels to face the god once again.

“Yeah, I did! And now, I’m taking you down, once and for all!” Joker yelled back. Arsene’s words rang throughout his mind, but Akira forced his right arm out as he saw Violet rushing towards him out of the corner of his eye.

“Akira, let me help you!” Violet shouted, doing her best to keep the exhaustion out of her voice. Joker shook his head, his eyes filled with confidence as he met her own.

“I’ll be alright, because I know you’re right behind me. Just rest up for now; I’ll need your help soon enough.” Upon saying the last words, Joker turned back to YHWH, its core burning bright once again as another ball of light began to manifest. To no one’s surprise, Joker reached up for his mask, wrapping his fingers around it. What did surprise them was when he put his other hand up to it and began squeezing it.

“Wh-what is he doing?” Noir shouted at Mona, who could only shake his head in confusion.

“I don’t know!” Mona shouted back, the wind howling around the Thieves even more. Joker grunted, eyes focused as he gripped even harder, beginning to feel cracks in his mask. He was going to do this, no matter what.

“Joker…” Joker began as he pressed even harder on his mask, small chunks of the mask flying off and sinking into Joker’s hands.

“Huh?” Violet let out, eyes widening as Joker’s voice echoed all around her, and she could see blood trickling down his arms as he struggled with his mask.

“Trickster…” Joker continued, a large crack running all along his mask as everything was covered in a blinding light, the sky being filled with YHWH’s final attack as the world began trembling.

“Joker!” Queen yelled at their leader, her hands slipping from her mask as she tried fighting through her utter exhaustion, but to no avail as she stumbled to a stop.

“All of them are just masks I wear… My name is…” Joker paused, his eyes wide as they shot up towards YHWH. The light in its center was nearly blinding, burning his retinas as he kept his eyes open, but Joker could barely feel the pain as his body and mind remained completely tranquil. “My name is Akira Kurusu!” 

Joker’s voice was drowned out as YHWH’s core flared for a single moment, and then the entire sky was set ablaze. Light covered the entire sky as YHWH’s might crashed down towards Joker, maskless as his arms fell to his side.

“No!” Skull yelled out, his legs shooting out to run towards Joker despite the light blinding him and the others entirely.

However, as existence itself was nearing its limit, everything came to a halt. One moment passed, then the next, but their obliteration never came. Then, slowly, the Thieves’ vision began clearing, and a slew of gasps escaped their mouths at once.

“Mona, is that…” Fox trailed off, his eyes climbing up the impossibly gigantic being that covered most of his vision.

“Joker evolved his persona!” Mona exclaimed, amazement covering his face as he couldn’t even see the top of the being cloaked in red.

“So, Senpai had even more power within himself this entire time?” Violet asked before looking back down at Joker. He was standing completely still, and Violet’s eyes widened as she saw that this persona matched Joker’s outfit entirely, plus a red and white fedora sitting atop its head.

 _“HM? YOU CONTINUE TO IMPRESS, TRICKSTER,”_ YHWH boomed, the Thieves’ eyes widening as their attention was brought up towards the god.

“Surprised? Humans are stronger than you think,” Akira calmly responded to the orb of complete light, but couldn’t stop the grin forming on his face. Light flickered from the top right section of YHWH, a giant crater formed in the orb of light to reveal its core to be… nothing. However, Akira shot his attention towards his persona in front of him as it glided into the sky with ease, the wind and rain conforming around its giant metallic wings as the persona climbed into the sky to match the god.

 _“HUMANITY’S STRENGTH WAS NEVER IN QUESTION, TRICKSTER. HOWEVER, THEY STILL DESIRE YOU AS THEIR SAVIOR, THEIR RULER; IF YOU DESIRE TO CONTINUE DENYING THEM THEIR WISH, THEN SO BE IT,”_ YHWH spoke just as calmly as Akira, but the teen didn’t waver as his persona clad in matching red came to a stop in front of the damaged orb of pure light.

“Raoul, show him our power!” Akira roared, and the ground; no, the world itself again began trembling as a mixed ball of energy gathered within Raoul’s opened hand as it slowly raised the black and red orb up towards the god

“What power… did this really come from Joker?” Noir asked, her voice shaking as she could barely keep herself standing.

Then, before another Thief could respond, the world stilled for what felt like an eternity. The billowing clouds behind YHWH were destroyed as the ungodly power within Raoul’s hand erupted into a life ending ray. Violet’s jaw dropped at the sight above her: there was the god, the unbeatable enemy that swatted away their most powerful attacks, with a gaping hole in its center, the light making the being up flickering to reveal a dull core.

“Akira! You did it!” Violet happily yelled after another brief, stunned moment of staring at the awe-inspiring scene within the sky. Breaking off into a sprint, Violet reached Akira before any of the other Thieves could move and, as she reached her boyfriend, she wrapped her arms around his body as she hugged him tight. “Senpai?” Looking upwards, a feeling of dread entered her stomach as Akira didn’t reciprocate the hug, only staring unblinkingly up at the ruined god.

“It’s not over; not by a long shot,” Akira calmly responded, calling Raoul down in front of them. “I need you guys to get away from here; I’ll get Raoul to do it.” Opening her mouth to protest, Violet found that no words were coming out as she was met with a look of deadly seriousness from Akira. She had never seen him like this, not even against Maruki.

“Senpai… What’s going to happen?” Violet asked hesitantly before her entire body froze as a deafening boom was followed by impossibly strong winds beginning to surround YHWH. However, before she could turn her attention back towards YHWH, she felt a strong surface slide underneath her feet and two strong hands slip underneath her arms before the surface underneath her began lifting into the air.

“The end… to all of this, Sumi. Stay back, please, and stay safe,” Akira said as Raoul lifted the Thieves high into the sky, drawing his hands back towards him to allow Violet to stand on her own as the other Thieves got to their feet around the couple. “All of you, I’ll need your help soon enough. But for now, please let me handle this.” Akira averted his eyes away from Violet’s shocked face and directed them towards YHWH, or at least where YHWH should have been. The clouds that were blotting out the sky were now circling around the damaged god until Akira could no longer see it, the gusts of wind around the clouds visible as Raoul continued flying away.“What’re you gonna do, man?” Skull asked, his heavy footsteps drawing Akira’s attention from the imposing threat growing further and further away as he turned towards his concerned best friend.

“I’m going to finish this,” Akira simply said, scanning all his friends' faces to see their eyes lit up with worry. “You all need to trust me, please. Only I can do this, at least at the moment.”

“Senpai, please let us help! We can do it together!” Violet shouted as she took Akira’s hand into her own, her voice nearly getting lost in the wind and rain as her body began to raise into the air slightly with her feet just barely staying on Raoul’s hand as the giant persona began drifting towards the ground.

“I know, but I need you down here. You can help me this way,” Akira paused, taking a deep breath as his red jacket blew wildly in the wind behind him. “Please… Do this for me.” Akira’s hand tightened around Violet’s, staring unwaveringly into her eyes. Violet’s gut wrenched as she saw the solemn determination in Akira’s eyes, her own determination shrinking under Akira’s as Raoul came to a complete stop. But… something within her kept that determination ablaze as her eyes sharpened.

“Senpai, I won’t leave you to fight by yourself. I may not have the same power as you, but I refuse to stand by as you throw yourself at that god.” Straightening herself in front of her beloved, Violet felt Ella dance within her mind, her other self joyful at the sheer strength of will emanating from the user. All Akira could do was stare in amazement, the other Thieves jumping off his final persona before a small smile tugged at his lips.

“I just can’t win with you, huh?” Akira closed his eyes as he chuckled to himself. No matter what, he had to do this. Even if it meant... “I’m sorry Sumi…”

“Senpai?” Violet tilted her head, Akira’s face growing downcast as his eyes opened and he squeezed her hand one final time

“But I need someone to catch me!” Before Violet could process his words, green energy swirled around her and swept her off her feet. She could only watch in horror as she was taken away from her loved one, her gut doing somersaults as her breathing shortened.

“Senpai!” The word was ripped from her throat as tears were flung all around her, the green energy beginning to disperse as she neared solid ground. “No, don’t go! Come back!” Violet’s arm shot out as she uselessly tried to grab out for Akira, but Raoul was already taking him towards the final fight.

Akira let out a pained sigh; he wanted so badly to accept Violet’s help and have her next to her, but he could feel Raoul’s heart and his beating together. As they continued their ascent, Akira could feel the air around him grow colder as the wind bit into his exposed fingers. The rain fell even harder, rolling down his face as Akira closed his eyes.

 _“The final contract shall begin now, Akira,”_ Raoul’s voice echoed in Akira’s head, the teen smirking as he turned his whole body to face the persona. 

“I am thou, thou art I,” the two said in unison, Akira taking a step towards the persona. All was calm within his heart, his mind as the icy rain and biting wind began avoiding him and Raoul.

“Wh-what’s he doing, Oracle?!” Fox shouted over the ever increasing wind, seeing the girl bring up a shaky holographic screen in front of her.

“I don’t know. He’s… talking to his persona, face to face,” Oracle responded as the Thieves all moved next to her, eyes glued to the image of Akira. They were barely able to hear what he was saying as they froze up, all except Violet as she continued watching Akira from where she was standing.

“For far too long have our hearts been separate but one.” As the two continued, the Palace began shaking as wisps of light began breaking through the dark clouds surrounding YHWH. “But now, we have cast our mask away,” Akira and Raoul spoke towards one another, their voices fusing together to echo around the entire palace as Raoul continued flying into the sky.

“Don’t tell me…” Mona uttered in complete shock, his breath being taken away from the spectacle shown on Oracle’s screen.

“Raoul, you and I are one being,” Akira yelled over the wind, reaching out his hand. The feeling in his arm was no longer where it should have been as it sank into the persona’s body. As Akira closed his hand, so did Raoul. Taking a deep breath in, Akira closed his eyes. 

‘It’s now or never.’

Pushing off his right leg, Akira plunged himself into Raoul’s body. He could feel, see, hear nothing and everything all at once; his mind raced as his entire body felt like it was being meticulously taken apart then put back together. He didn’t feel any pain, however, and as soon as the feeling came it disappeared. Without opening his eyes, Akira knew he had done it. The claws protruding from his hands, the fedora sitting atop his head, the metallic wings connected to his shoulder blades; they were all part of his body now.

“What…” Skull muttered to himself, taking his eyes off the screen to witness the miracle in the sky.

“Where… where’s Joker?” Panther questioned, her eyes widened as she could have sworn she saw Akira walk into Raoul.

“He did the same thing as Maruki. Persona fusion,” Mona said confidently, waddling in front of the Thieves as they split their gazes between him, Raoul, and the ever increasing amount of light pouring through the clouds swirling around YHWH.

“Persona…” Skull began, stepping forward towards the cat as the rest of the Thieves stared wide eyed at Mona. All except Violet, who had her eyes trained only on Raoul.

“Fusion?” Panther finished, taking the other side of Mona before looking up towards the clouds in the distance.

“I… I never thought anyone besides Maruki would be able to do anything like that, but Joker… Joker actually did i–”

The already insane speed of the rain and wind all around the Thieves somehow worsened, turning apocalyptic as it lifted them all up and flung them backwards. Violet managed to slide to a stop by grabbing hold of the ground, her gloves beginning to tear as the rough ground bit into her skin and drawing a small amount of blood. 

“Guys… what…” Skull’s voice barely reached Violet as she fought her way to her feet against the galeforce pushing her down, the rain striking her body so hard some droplets tore through parts of her black sleeves. “What is that?”

The small amount of pain Violet felt was easily dwarfed by the absolute dread entering into her stomach as her eyes landed on the area where the sphere of light once was. 

_“Chosen One of Man, you know not what you do. Your desire to continue running from your destiny will end in sorry no matter what you do. I will see to it that humanity’s desires, my own desires, are fulfilled. You are their Savior, Trickster; accept that and relent.”_

“What will happen if I don’t?” Raoul asked calmly, staring unphased at the new being towering above him. Where the orb of light once was was replaced by an aged man, clothed completely in white robes with its flowing white beard and hair untouched by the downpour occurring all around it. Within its right hand was a simple wooden staff, numerous times longer than Raoul as it only reached up to this new being’s chest, and within his left was an old book, its covers dusty and pages filled with ink.

 _“You truly sadden me, but if you desire a fight, then you shall receive one.”_ In an instance, Raoul shot towards the right as a piercing ray of light narrowly passed between his metallic wings. The book and staff remained perfectly still along with YHWH as Raoul kept his eyes trained on the gigantic being, trying in vain to ignore the burning sensation throughout both wings.

“This is it's true power. Need to be careful.” Raoul grunted in pain, shaking his head as he shot forward to avoid another arrow of light that manifested from YHWH’s almost crystalline body. 

_“I did not wish for any of this. You will still have your free will if you accept my gift, and the new kingdom you will bring humanity will be absolute perfection. No more pain, no more suffering, no more fighting; it shall be paradise.”_ Raoul grimaced; his right leg was burning hot, a sizable hole going straight through his right thigh as another bolt of light soared through the sky and disappearing over the horizon.

“Dammit… this is going to be tough,” Raoul cursed as a rush of green energy came from his right hand and swirled down to his injured leg. Keeping his eyes focused on the god, Raoul let out a small sigh as the hole in his thigh healed completely, and his eyes sharpened as he stopped in midair.

_“Let there be light.”_

“The hell?!” Raoul’s voice was drowned out as, in the instance YHWH’s staff touched the ground, he was surrounded completely by an impossibly bright light. The moment the searing light filled his eyes, the persona-human fusion was blinded. Shooting forward, Raoul attempted to continue his circling path around the god, but his lack of sight revealed its consequences immediately as three spears of light tore through his legs. Raoul nearly plummeted from the sky, sounds of pain unable to escape his lips as it came to be too much, but he managed to steady himself with a mighty flap of his wings.

‘What do I do?’ Another wave of green energy filled both Raoul’s legs as he stayed steady, the cool rush from the healing magic instantly being followed with two new sections of burning flesh as his shoulders were punctured. Gasps of pain were torn out of Raoul’s lips as he forced the stream of healing magic entering into his body upwards, a dull but ever increasing pain appearing within his mind as the fresh wounds closed quickly with the rush of green energy reaching his shoulders.

_“My light blinds all those who lie, who deceive not only themselves but others. You wish for this power, the opportunity to lead humanity to become something greater. Accept i–”_

“You don’t get to decide how anyone lives!” Raoul cut off the god, its booming voice failing to give Raoul a solid point to attack as it sounded as if it came from all around him. However, even with his entire body being disoriented, Raoul raised his hand and rapidly set loose a barrage of his newfound energy.

‘I can’t just let it attack without attacking back, but I can’t tell where it is. Third Eye is useless as well.’ Raoul’s mind raced as he spun to the right, the rain and wind howling around him as he sped around where he believed YHWH was.

 _“It is not I who decides this; humanity themselves chose this path. It is you who is taking away their desires for a better life,”_ YHWH boomed, five more hollows ripping open across his body from in front and behind him. _“You cannot win this fight; the light blinds you instead of guiding you to the truth. Accept your fate, Savior of Mankind, and a new era for humanity may beg–”_

“Keep fighting, Joker!”

“You better not give up, Akira!”

Two voices called out from the ground, not even making it to Raoul’s ears but he could feel two Arcana stirring in his soul: the Magician and Chariot. Memories of Morgana and Ryuji suddenly flowed through his mind; the time where the three met in Kamoshida’s palace, helping Ryuji with the track team and Yaumuchi, Ryuji’s resolve being set against Maruki, the night after taking Kamoshida’s treasure, Morgana announcing he belongs with the Thieves, the moment he disappeared after the fight against Yaldabaoth, Morgana throwing away his life as a human to take his true place in reality.

“What…” Raoul breathed out, the severe injuries disappearing in an instant as the rain and wind completely ceased to even graze his body. His sight was still gone, taken by the light, but Raoul could feel an electric current rushing throughout his body and hear the small crackling of sparks around him along with a soothing gust of wind surrounding his wings. Then, as Raoul continued flying around what he hoped was YHWH, a single spark was picked up by the stream of green wind and directed forwards from Raoul’s chest. The very next instance, Raoul felt the spark hit something and his sixth sense, his Third Eye, finally flew open and sharpened to a nearly perfect image of his surroundings. The god was crystal clear in Raoul’s mind, still standing straight as it stared down at him.

 _“Interesting, Trickster. It appears you have more than one way to see than just your sight,”_ YHWH spoke, and Raoul found that the voice was coming from one direction as he trained his Third Eye solely on the god. _“However, you have yet to land a blow on me while I am like this, in my true state, and you will run out of energy long before you do.”_

Another barrage of light came crashing towards Raoul, but this time the persona-human fusion could see the attack approaching him as he slowed to a stop, angling his body upwards as gravity attempted to pull him back to the ground and subsequently his body began falling backwards. Then, with a sudden rush of winds, Raoul completely turned around to be plummeting towards the ground and, just as he was about to reach the severely cracked and destroyed earth, he pulled himself up to be horizontal with the surface. Dust was kicked up behind him as Raoul continued speeding forward, weaving in between the artillery of light missiles sending chunks of the earth flying as Raoul weaved in between the awesome attacks.

 _“I must say, you are quite impressive indeed, Trickster. You are faster than I imagined, but there is a way to keep you still.”_ As YHWH was speaking, Raoul’s Third Eye was flooded with the threat of imminent danger as the god’s staff lifted off the ground. 

_“Let there be a vault between waters, and let this vault be called the sky.”_

Suddenly, as Raoul’s wings picked up another burst of the green winds around him, he forced himself to come to a stop as a nearly invisible barrier began materializing from thin air from the ground upwards to create a dome all around YHWH and Raoul.

“Guys!” Raoul flipped around, relief spreading through his body immediately as he saw the other Thieves outside the barrier; they weren’t going to be hurt. However, he couldn’t hold onto this feeling for long as he saw YHWH’s staff touch the ground once again.

_“Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.”_

All around Raoul, the rainwater that had previously been pelting him rose into the sky, coming together into large blobs above him. He could only watch in mixed awe and confusion as the water coagulated and transformed into translucent disks and, just as he was about to move his attention back to the god, a whirring sound filled his ears as the disks began moving.

“What is this?” Raoul breathed out as he watched through his Third Eye as the disks continued speeding up above him, reaching such a high speed that he could barely see each individual one and creating a makeshift barrier that closed off the entirety of the upper half of the dome. His mouth agape, Raoul shook his head fiercely as he saw an impossibly large amount of light projectiles forming all over YHWH.

 _“I shall give you one last chance, for you are trapped down there with no hope of escape. Surrender; take up your throne. It is not only for mankind’s sake but yours as well,”_ YHWH spoke calmly, but Raoul felt his blood boil as he stared up at the god.

“Can’t you just shut up and fight? You know my answer; we’re fighting until one of us falls!” Raoul roared in response, floating to the ground before kicking off the crumbling ground as his foot touched down. In that very moment, all of the spears of light were released from YHWH’s skin, sending a shockwave that slammed into the dome surrounding the two as the death barrage passed through the hyperfast disks keeping Raoul near the crumbling ground.

“Akira! Don’t let that god beat you!”

“Joker, stand your ground!”

Yet again he felt two Arcana stir within him: the Emperor and Lovers Arcana, cutting through his thoughts. Memories of helping Ann strengthen her heart, being with her when she modelled, and seeing her stand up to Maruki rushed through Raoul’s mind, along with Yusuke being devastated by the critique he received, of him finding beauty in the ugliness of the world, of him admonishing himself for accepting a beautiful yet fake reality. 

_“Let the land produce vegetation.”_

The seemingly infinite amount of piercing light spears were suddenly accompanied with a sudden massive growth of a forest of trees and other wild growth, all blocking Raoul’s path as he was forced to weave through the dense jungle that miraculously sprouted all around him. The barrage of light from above was nearly upon Raoul as he was forced to come to a stop, a large oak tree sprouting in front of him in an instant.

However, none of the light tore through Raoul, not even scratching him as a layers upon layers of thick ice coated his skin, but it wasn’t cold; in fact, Raoul felt himself heat up considerably as he floated amongst the trees while being bombarded by YHWH’s constant attack. 

The blood flowing through his veins felt like magma as Raoul pushed off from where he was floating, the leaves rustling as he passed through the branches and continued climbing against the godly storm towards the spinning discs. Upon reaching the disks, Raoul did not slow his ascent, inching closer and closer to what seemed to be certain demise. But, as the top of his fedora was about to graze against the impenetrable wall of the spinning disks, Raoul’s entire body was surrounded by a roaring fire. Instantly the disks above Raoul began to have holes burned through them, allowing a small passageway up towards YHWH that the persona-human readily took.

 _“Hm?”_ YHWH let out as Raoul climbed higher and higher, the god’s attack ceasing just before the flames began flickering and the ice melting. _“You truly intrigue me, Trickster. None should have been able to find a way out, yet you managed. However, this only further strengthens my belief that humanity was correct to choose you.”_

Raoul couldn’t retort as trembles were felt all around him, and he could see YHWH lift his staff through his Third Eye and, for the first time, its book began to fly through the pages as a strange yellow and grey energy began to emanate off the god’s glassy body. 

_“Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times.”_

“Shit!” Raoul was forced backwards just as a massive mass sped right in front of him, his body nearly being crushed by the foreign object as it continued speeding around the edge of the dome. However, as Raoul began to regain his bearings, he couldn’t make out what the object was as his Third Eye spotted another mass, bigger than the last, approaching at a speed Raoul could barely comprehend for something of its size.His entire body began burning up as the object continued approaching, and as Raoul flew straight up he realized what the two objects were: the sun and the moon.

Eyes wide, Raoul felt his massive wings begin to burn as two holes were burned straight through them. “Argh!” Raoul roared in pain, losing altitude as his eyes landed on the two spheres orbiting YHWH to see differing energy gathering on the surface of both objects. His wings nearly useless, Raoul managed to narrowly avoid a cluster of three pulsing orbs of grey energy, but couldn’t do much but threw his arms up as a blast of burning hot yellow energy rocketed towards him.

“Dammit…” Against his body shaking from the almighty barrage from the two lights, the mind splitting agony afflicting his head, Raoul forced what he hoped would be the last bout of healing magic throughout his body, the metal covered skin covering and filling the two holes burned in Raoul’s wings while the scorched sections on his forearms cooled and healed entirely.

_“The Sun and the Moon; these two lights, one greater and one lesser, have been watching over mankind since the beginning of time. They have seen eras of humanity be born and die; they have seen humanity fight against itself, love one another, and all that lies in between, and they desire to witness humanity reach perfection. Savior of Man, understand that you are alone in your fight to keep humanity at bay from their ultimate goal, and my patience for your willingness to go against humanity is running thin.”_

“No one deserves to be controlled, even if they want to be! We all control our own lives, our destinies; what good would it do if we all threw that away?! What good does it do for humanity to stop growing, to stop learning?!” Raoul roared back at the god, weaving through the hundreds of blasts coming from all directions as he attempted to look for a vantage point. His body was burning hot from the immense heat emanating off the newborn sun, his wings practically melting as Raoul began slowing down. Orbs of moonlight slammed into his body, knocking the air out of his lungs as a stray blast lodged itself into his gut. ‘There’s no openings, what now?!’

 _“That is a truly foolish outlook on life, but you shall soon see the glory of the Kingdom you shall rule over,”_ YHWH spoke calmly, lifting its staff once more as the two celestial bodies ceased their fire on Raoul.

_“Let life flourish in all corners of the Earth with creatures of all kinds able to exist in harmony.”_

The remaining open space all around YHWH and Raoul was gone, filled instead with a horde of Shadows appearing from thin air. The Sun and the Moon seemed to avoid the Shadow’s entirely, focusing their blasts back onto Raoul as the fusion wasn’t allowed any time to process what was occurring. He was forced back into dodging and weaving around the insurmountable blasts, his body being struck by more and more as he now had every type of Shadow to contend with, some he had never seen before.

“Go on, Akira!”

“Joker, I believe in you!” 

“Akira, you’re… like a brother to me, so don’t die on me!”

As Raoul was facing a combined cluster of Shadows and energy, the Empress, High Priestess, and Hermit Arcana burned in Raoul’s spirit. Memories of Makoto and Haru flew through his mind, time coming to a halt around him. Makoto chasing after Kaneshiro, telling Akira about her dad, the slap of truth, and apologizing to Akira about Maruki. Haru fully awakening to her persona, her resolve even after the death of her father, and proudly standing next to Akira as they fought against Maruki’s reality. 

Energy began crackling within Raoul, filling his body and mind as he suddenly dove downwards through the holes made previously within the disks. His Third Eye could see them all chasing behind him, the horde forming into a straight line as Raoul dove into an opening chasm and being forced to bring in his wings. The raw energy rattling within Raoul was nearly spilling out as he continued his descent into his own world, his eyes beginning to glow a bright pink as they widened with focus.

“Now!” Suddenly, Raoul forced himself to a complete stop, all his momentum vanishing as he flipped to face the onslaught of Shadows. In that very moment, Raoul released all the Psychic energy that had been building within his mind, forcing all the Shadows to remain still with all the power granted to him. Dark blue energy burned underneath Raoul’s wings and, after a moment of his eyes closed, Raoul shot upwards with an immense amount of Nuclear energy propelling him up towards the Shadows.

Fifty feet.

Forty feet.

Thirty feet.

Raoul continued his unyielding ascent towards the ungodly amount of Shadows, not wavering for a moment until he was so close he could almost touch the closest one. Then, in a glorious flash of light across Raoul’s still blinded eyes, Sojiro and Futaba appeared within Raoul’s mind. They had become a family, a family Akira had previously lost the year before. Futaba had grown so much and so had Sojiro, but without them Akira wouldn’t be here.

“YHWH!” With an earth-shaking roar, an explosion of Almighty energy surrounded Raoul as his right claw shot forward, ripping and tearing through the Shadows in his way as the energy around him disintegrated the ones around him. No Shadow proved to be a match to him as Raoul destroyed every single one, the only thing remaining being their dust as Raoul exited the ravine and met YHWH’s glassy, brown eyes. “This ends, right here, right now! No more tricks!”

 _“If you so desire it, then it shall be done. I hope you will come to accept your place in humanity once this foolish battle is over,”_ YHWH said, closing his eyes as Raoul slowed to a stop, eye level with the god as the Psychic, Nuclear, and Almighty energy disappeared from within and around him, the only two still remaining being the spark of electricity allowing his Third Eye functionality and the small wisp of green wind aiding in his flight.

“Dammit, I wish we could do something…” Skull cursed as he stared up at his best friend, two large energy balls gathering in front of Raoul and YHWH respectively. “I feel so… helpless.”

“This is all we can do, Skull. Joker can handle this; I know he can,” Queen responded, staring intently at the holographic screen in front of Oracle. She wanted so desperately to believe in her own words, but there was still a small shred of doubt within her. ‘What kind of friend am I to start doubting in him now?’

“Yes, I believe that is correct, Queen. Akira has bested the odds more than I could possibly count; there is no reason to doubt him now,” Fox said, confidence filling his voice as he approached Skull. “Don’t you agree, Skull?”

“Of course, man!” Skull responded, meeting Fox’s eyes as his own lit up. A grin formed on both of their faces; they would all get out of this, no matter what.

“Or...le!” Raoul’s voice rang from the holographic screen, slightly choppy but still intelligible as it drew all the Thieves attention.

“Akira?” All the Thieves called out, their voices’ getting caught in the wind as they all moved over towards the screen.

“How are the rest doing? I need their help so–”

“I’m ready, just tell me what to do Senpai!” Violet practically shouted, her heart racing as her hand was already on her mask. She wasn’t going to let Akira stand alone in the fight.

“When I say so, have your personas unleash their full power directed at me, okay?” Raoul asked, the struggle evident in his voice as he continued to push back against YHWH’s power.

“Why at y-” Skull began.

“Don’t question me, Ryuji! Just do it!” Raoul roared, the Thieves’ eyes widening in shock.

“Ella!” Violet shouted, her persona appearing behind her as she ripped off her mask. The Thieves looked over at her as she willed Ella into the sky, gathering blessed energy in front of her persona. “What are you all waiting for? He’s fighting for our sake, and you’re all going to sit there and watch? He asked us to do this!”

“Heh, you’re right! No time to be sitting on our asses!” Skull shouted, the rest of the Thieves grinning as they all summoned their personas and sent them next to Ella. They all began to charge up their energy as Raoul released the dark red energy building up in front of him towards YHWH, who did the same from its open book only with its pure energy made of light. The moment the two clashed, a large shockwave nearly shattered the dome surrounding the two, creating a small opening within YHWH’s creation from the sheer force of their beam’s meeting. Blasts of energy continued to rain down upon Raoul from the circling Sun and Moon, but the green wind around the fusion kicked up, blocking each attack from hitting Raoul and sending them flying towards the ground.

“Akira, they’re in position!” Oracle shouted at her brother-like figure.

“Gre...t! T...y and f...d an open...g, Ora...le!” Raoul roared, and Oracle instantly went within Al Azif to search for something within the barrier around Raoul and YHWH.

“I found something, but it’s super tiny, Akira!”

“Per...ct. Wa...t for me to s...y when!” Raoul called back, and Oracle’s transmitter went radio silent as she watched the two waves of clashing energy push and shove against one another, neither side gaining a clear advantage. At least, not for very long as Raoul began to be shoved backwards, the constant pressure from YHWH’s Light of Heaven slowly overwhelmed him as his own energy began to dwindle ever so slightly.

However, Raoul simply closed his eyes, allowing his body to relax as a small chuckle escaped his lips. He was staring back at Akechi, YHWH tearing through Raoul’s remaining energy, but neither of the two rivals had even the slightest amount of concern in their eyes.

 _“You seem confident,”_ Akechi spoke plainly, a small smile on his face as he approached Akira within his mind.

“Why shouldn’t I? We’ve made it through worse; why would this stop us?” Akira responded, another chuckle escaping Raoul’s lips as the Light of Heaven was nearly upon him.

 _“Well, do us both a favor, Akira,”_ Akechi paused, staring directly into Akira’s eyes. _“And finish that bastard off!”_

Raoul’s eyes flashing back open, a burst of energy erupting from his relaxed hand and instantly clashing once again with YHWH’s attack. However, this time, Raoul wasn’t trying to overpower the god. 

“Everyone, now!” 

In an instant, Raoul shot upwards, the energy that he was exuding from his hand remaining in that space as a silhouette appeared in his stead, keeping the immense energy from YHWH at bay. Flying upwards, climbing higher into the sky, Raoul avoided the twirling celestial bodies as his Third Eye detected a massive amount of energy hurtling directly towards him from behind. He didn’t attempt to dodge; instead, Raoul slowly brought his right arm out to be perfectly parallel with the ground before striking down at nothing with all he had. Allowing his body to spin, Raoul focused and trusted entirely in his Third Eye as he began to direct himself towards YHWH. 

Blasts of light began firing from all around Raoul once again, impaling all over his body as he continued racing towards the emotionless face of the god. The pain entering all throughout Raoul did not reach his mind, though; his adrenaline was far too high for him to even feel anything. 

_“Akira, I can’t hold him back for much longer! Finish this goddamn fight already!”_ Akechi roared within Raoul’s mind, and Raoul finally felt the barrage of elements reach him. Fire, Ice, Wind, Electricity, Nuclear, Psychic, Bless, and even a slight amount of Almighty; they all began twirling around the fusion, getting caught within the sheer speed of the spiral attack.

 _“Take this!”_ From below him, Raoul felt the final element join in with the array of other elements: Curse. All of the elements began to mix together as Raoul forced himself faster and faster, none of YHWH’s attacks hitting him any longer as they were destroyed instantly upon touching the mass of energy surrounding the fusion.

“Phantom Piercer!” 

And suddenly, all was quiet. The beam struggle beneath Raoul was no more as both energy sources disappeared instantly, Akechi no longer able to sustain that form any longer. The Thieves all stared upwards, jaws hanging open and eyes widened as they had just witnessed the fantastical spectacle above them. 

“Is… is it over?” Skull breathed out, not daring to move a muscle as he saw Raoul come to a stop behind the destroyed head of the once untouchable god.

“It… has to be, right?” Mona asked, uncertainty filling his own voice as he watched the completely still form of YHWH still persist as Raoul began lowering towards the ground.

“Senpai, you did it!” All the Thieves turned their heads towards the redhead as she shot out in front of them, rushing towards where the two combatants were thousands of feet away with a gleeful look on her face.

“Violet, come ba–”

 _“You are truly, truly exceptional, Savior. I would never have expected you to gain and use such an immense amount of power before,”_ the destroyed YHWH spoke, still as calmly as ever as Violet came to an abrupt stop with the rest of the Thieves catching up to her. 

The dark storm clouds that spanned the entirety of Akira’s world suddenly vanished into thin air, replaced by a shining light that covered all of the skies. Raoul couldn’t react at all, his wings burned to cinders in a flash of light along with all the energy surrounding him vanishing in the light. The disks that had once attempted to keep Raoul towards the ground began to shimmer, the holes burned into them by the fusion beginning to be filled as the large transparent objects flew towards the center of the dome where YHWH stood. At least, that’s where the god should have been, but it was completely obscured by the blinding light from the bottom to the top, and the disks merged together into one large landmass.

 _“However, I cannot allow humanity’s desires go to waste any longer. The previous two incarnations of myself were flawed, fueled by their own desires as well as humanity’s; I will not make that same mistake. You, Akira Kurusu, the Trickster, Joker, are the Chosen One of humanity, set to bring them peace and joy for the rest of time and raise them to new heights.”_ Raoul watched, eyes widened, as the blinding light faded, revealing the source of the booming voice as his feet touched solid ground of the giant disk. A humanoid figure made completely of light, seemingly held together by a thin layer of… something all over its body with a nearly undetectable sphere within its core, radiating off an immense amount of light. 

_“Let us make mankind in our image, so that they may rule over all other creatures that roam the Earth.”_

YHWH’s feet touched the disk, now made entirely of light, and Raoul found himself at eye level with the god.

“And who decided that?” Raoul responded, the wind and rain ceasing with the departure of the clouds, and even the Thieves on the ground could hear the two speak to one another. “Let’s just finish this.”

_“Very well. You will make an excellent ruler over humanity.”_

Before Raoul could finish blinking, YHWH was already upon him and felt his chest erupt in pain as its fist made completely of light slammed into him. All air was taken from Raoul’s lungs, leaving him weezing as he slid to a stop right at the border of the dome. The large space between him and YHWH that the god created didn’t seem to matter as YHWH seemingly vanished and reappeared in front of Raoul, his radiant right hand grabbing hold of Raoul’s arm and lifting the fusion into the sky before slamming him down into the disk of light. Cracks formed where Raoul was slammed down, his entire body screaming in agony, but he didn’t have time to linger on the pain as he narrowly rolled out of the way as spikes of light shot upwards from where he was once laying.

 _“You must understand your position, Savior of Mankind, yet you persist against me. It is that tenacity that makes you fit to rule, yet you continue denying yourself. It is truly a pity.”_ Raoul barely made it to his feet as YHWH was right in front of him once again, an even greater light building within its right hand before it crushed the godly energy into Raoul’s right leg. The fusion fell to his knee, his left barely able to keep himself up as his right felt like it was surrounded by molten rock. 

‘Is… Is this it? After… After everything… I went through… I’m being forced to become what I fought so damn hard against…’ Raoul’s mind began going blank as YHWH towered over the defeated fusion. “Dammit… I… I’m sorry… Sumire… everyone… I… failed you all…”

“What the hell are you doing?!” A flash of pain struck across Akira’s cheek, and instead of YHWH in front of him he faced Akechi once again.

“Akechi? What are you–”

“Weren’t you the one going on about bonds and chiding me on how I lived?! You don’t get to give up like this, not after everything you’ve done!” Akechi roared into Akira’s face, and all the black haired teen could do was stare in shock. 

“But… how can I…”

 _“_ Are you seriously about to ask that? If so, I’ll kill that damn god myself. You promised to always fight for our true reality, didn’t you?”

Akira’s eyes widened; he did. Of course he did. So why… Why wasn’t he strong enough to defeat another one of these gods?

“Tch, if you can’t do it alone, let me help.”

“Akechi?!”

Akira’s head shot back up to see Akechi staring him directly in the eyes, nothing but seriousness within the two orbs as he had his hand outstretched.

“We don’t have time, so let’s just get this over with!”

Without any further hesitation, Akira’s hand shot forward and grasped Akechi’s.

_“You shall come back stronger, Akira. That I promise, along with your companions. A greater life is awaiting you a–”_

“Shut the hell up already!” Raoul roared, shaking the dome surrounding the two beings as he fought to his feet. Every part of his being was aching, screaming at him to stop, but it was dwarfed by the fire within his chest, spreading to every corner of his body as he glared at YHWH. “This greater life bullshit is pissing me off! I will forge my own path forward, along with everyone else! They don’t need anyone to rule over their lives!”

* * *

“Hm?” Sojiro wondered aloud as he finished wiping down the final dish for the night, putting it aside to dry.

“What is it, Soji-” Sae began when a low rumble could be heard from above them, and the look in their eyes said everything they needed to say as they both rushed upstairs. 

“Akira!” Sojiro shouted out as he stepped into the attic, eyes landing on Akira’s body on the bed. Or, it should have been on the bed but was instead floating in the air, his body covered by a pristine white robe along with a white and golden suit. Sweat was pouring from Akira’s face, grunts of pain coming from the unconscious teen. Sojiro’s body moved on its own at the sight of the distressed teen; he was considered just as much family as Futaba at this point. Reaching Akira, Sojiro reached out his hand without thinking, but Sae’s hand quickly caught hold of his wrist.

“Sojiro, we can’t interfere!” Sae shouted, breaking the older man out of his thoughts. He let his hand down, Sae doing the same as they both stared at the Phantom Thief leader. As they stared, they grabbed their heads as a weird feeling passed through their body and the attic began to swirl in front of their eyes. 

“What the hell is going on?” Sojiro shouted, his own voice sounding distant as he began to see the ground underneath him and Sae crumble away, the roof disappearing as their eyes were filled with a bright light.

“I… I don’t know!” Sae responded in kind, looking around wildly but having to shield her eyes from the light. “Could this be the same thing that happened last year? When they destroyed the Metaverse?” Sae’s eyes widened as they no longer stood in Leblanc’s attic, but now in a hellish landscape of ravines everywhere with the sky filled with a near unbearable light.

“Where… Where are we?” Sae questioned, looking around to see a destroyed building near the two, or at least pieces of it. She took a step forward as her eyes scanned the area until landing on seven tall figures with one short, black monster next to them not too far away from her and Sojiro. She instantly knew who they were, staring at them in disbelief before turning to Sojiro. “We should go to them; from what I recall hearing, we’re in danger right now and only they can really fight in here!” After finishing, Sae broke out into a sprint, thankful that she was in flats as she made a straight line for the Thieves. Sojiro followed close behind her; despite his age, he was still fairly fit.

As they approached, all but one of the Thieves turned their bodies towards the two adults, eyes widening in shock as Oracle and Queen broke from the group.

“Sojiro?!”

“Sis?!”

They shouted in unison, confusion overtaking the other swirling emotions in their minds as they met the two adults halfway. Skull was close behind them as Sojiro brought Oracle into his arms, Sae holding Queen’s shoulders, while avoiding the spikes, tightly as she looked her in the eyes. “The hell are you two doing here?” Skull asked incredulously. 

“Akechi, let’s go!” Raoul roared in the distance, cutting off Sae as she was about to respond to the blond and forced everyone’s eyes onto Oracles screens.

“Wait, what is that?!” Sojiro asked in disbelief as he stared at two gigantic creatures on the screen, easily able to see them in the distance.

“Akira’s on the right, some stinky god is on the left!” Oracle quickly said, keeping her eyes glued to the screen as Raoul began trembling.

“That’s Akira!?” Sae shouted, sharing in Sojiro’s shock as the two adults stared slackjaw as the massive creature became even larger, his muscles growing as his fist forced YHWH backwards, no damage done to the god.

The fabric of reality began to rip in front of Raoul as he reached forward, feeling a burning hot handle form as he slowly closed his hand into a fist. “Laevateinn; thanks, Akechi,” he whispered, bringing the burning blade to his side as he locked eyes with the god once again. “I won’t turn my back on reality, YHWH.”

 _“If that is your true desire, then this can only end in one way. Show me, Savior of Mankind,”_ YHWH paused, mimicking Raoul’s exact movements earlier as reality again tore and, with a flash of brilliant light, a blade made entirely of light appearing within the god’s grasp. _“Show me the strength of humanity’s greatest!”_

In a flash, YHWH appeared in front of Raoul once again, its blade of light directed for Raoul’s shoulder, but, with a swift counter, Raoul deflected the attack entirely and turned to face YHWH as the god came to a stop. A moment passed, both combatants staring at one another, before both dove towards each other. A massive shockwave crashed all throughout the broken world, shattering the dome surrounding the two entirely and forcing the Thieves on the ground backwards.

“Boss, Sis! Get behind us!” All at once, the Thieves summoned their personas in front of themselves, barely stopping the shockwave from hurtling them into the abyss behind them. All of them except Violet, who stared unblinking at the fight taking place within the sky.

_“But I need someone to catch me!”_

Akira’s words rang throughout her mind, her mask remaining on her face as her fists shook slightly. ‘I have to be ready.’

The two beings, a god and the strongest mortal, pushed against each other, their blades sending sparks hurtling into the sky. It was no longer just Raoul and Akira any longer in the fusion, though; he could feel Akechi and Hereward alongside him, helping push against YHWH. With a final grunt, Raoul managed to break free of the clash and shoved YHWH backwards slightly and stabbed forward instantly. However, the god stepped to the side, the blade of light tearing through reality before it ran across Raoul’s chest. Blood began seeping out of the wound, but Raoul was forced to jump backwards before even acknowledging it as YHWH sent a flurry of large, heavy swings his way. As he touched back on the ground, Raoul felt the ground underneath him shake and pushed himself to the right, narrowly avoiding getting skewered by thousands of light spears shooting up from the ground.

The newly dormant Sun and Moon surrounding the two became active once again as Raoul began his charge towards YHWH, and, without time to think, slid forward. All of the blasts of energy passed narrowly over him, and Raoul caught his blade into YHWH’s side as the god lifted its blade to strike down.

“Got you,” Raoul said, a slight smirk on his face as he reached forward with his other hand to grab hold of Laeventinn’s handle. However, a rush of grey caught his eyes and, as YHWH jumped to the side and freeing itself from Raoul’s blade, a massive beam of energy came from the center of the moon. “Shit!”

Raoul managed to get his blade up in time, holding the immense power back but cursed internally as he saw a flash of orange and yellow to his side going behind him and braced his back. A rush of pain erupted from Raoul’s back as another beam came from the Sun, trapping him between the two lights as his arms were beginning to give out.

_“Come on, Akira! Get out of there!”_

“I’m… trying… dammit!”

* * *

Light was pouring from the sky within reality, but no one seemed to notice or care as they went about their day, not even acknowledging the near blinding light from above.

“Hm?” Tae Takemi muttered as she blinked once, then twice as she looked around her. Eventually, she looked up and gasped; there was a giant figure, holding a burning blade, trapped in between two beams of light. However foreign the being seemed, she couldn’t see to get the feeling that it was familiar out of her head. “Wait… Akira? Are… are you still fighting for us?” Tae stared slack jawed into the sky, squinting due to the overpowering light, before chuckling to herself. “Of course you are; it is you we’re talking about here. Well, keep fighting! You can’t give up now!”

“Kid?” Munehisa Iwai mumbled, driving back from picking up Karou from Shujin. Far off into the sky he saw a large figure fighting for its life, and smirked. It didn’t make sense, but it reminded him of Akira. “You’ll get through this, kid, cause it’s you!”

“Keep your head up, Kurusu-kun!” Toranosuke Yoshida bellowed into the sky, rain falling on his face as he stood in the middle of the station square in Shibuya. Everyone around him ignored his shouting as he swore he saw Akira as another being, trapped in between two beams. “You are more capable than you know yourself! I have faith in your strength of will!”

“I let my own feelings control me earlier, but no longer!” Hifumi Togo shouted suddenly as guilt washed over her. She was walking back home from the church, and she looked upwards to see Akira within the light filled sky. “And I know you won’t either, Akira! Keep fighting!”

“Was I really prepared to become a maid for him again?” Kawakami muttered, dropping her laundry as she saw a silhouette within the sky. “Akira, you believed in me as my student no matter what! So, I’ll do the same as your teacher! Nothing can stop you!”

“You’ve helped me through so much, and now it’s my turn to help you!” Ichiko Ohya shouted outside the bar in Shinjuku, ignoring the intense light in the sky as she shouted towards Akira. “I’ll cheer you on as long as you need!”

“You’ve changed fate more times than I can count; I am sure you can do it one more time!” Chihaya Mifune exclaimed from her desk, her eyes straining as she stared at Akira back against two beams of energy from both sides. “Keep pushing!”

“You’re my big bro, AND a Phantom Thief!” Shinya Oda let out in front of the arcade in Akihabara, staring into the sky to see Akira. “There’s nothing you can’t do!”

“Get him, Akira!” Yuuki Mishima cried out in front of Shujin Academy, barely no one in the area as he stared up into the impossible bright sky. He could see his best friend fighting for not only his life but the future of the entire world. “Keep fighting on, and I believe in you!” As he screamed into the air, Takuto Maruki walked by the area and walked next to him. “Dr. Maruki? You… can see what’s going on, right?”

“Yeah, and I know that Akira is fighting his heart out for us right now,” Maruki nodded his head before turning his attention to the figure in the sky trapped between two deadly beams of energy. “Akira, you gave me another chance to live my life, to restart. I am eternally grateful to you, so please; beat that thing like you beat me!” Maruki yelled as loud as he could into the light filled sky, Mishima looking over in surprise at his former councillor before smiling. 

“Do it, Akira!”

* * *

“Don’t let that thing win , Akira! Fight back against it!” Sojiro roared at the persona-human fusion above him, fist shaking out in front of him as he watched Raoul begin to move his left arm backwards, pressing his hand into the fiery beam coming from the Sun scorching his back.

“Akira, you have already faced a god trying to control humanity. You are more than capable of beating this one, so push back against it!” Sae shouted next to Sojiro, a roar coming from Raoul as Laevateinn disappeared from his right hand, and the fusion began to put everything left within him into the palms of his hands.

“Akira, do it!” They all shouted in unison, Raoul’s eyes burning bright with determination as he felt the bonds he had formed with his friends burning within his chest. Then, with a flash of a familiar blue light...

“Trickster… No, Akira Kurusu, as you want to be called. Your journey is finally coming to a close,” Igor chuckled as he clapped his hands at Akira. “Can you hear them? The voices of your friends, all pushing with you towards a brighter future. One without a being controlling over them, where they can live their lives,” Igor said as the World Arcana appeared in front of Akira’s eyes.

“Akira, you have our full support in this matter as well,” Lavenza added as a blue light surrounded the Arcana. Igor chuckled as he watched the World Arcana begin to shimmer until it was engulfed in a soothing light.

“This is truly magnificent. I never expected one of my guests to obtain the Universe Arcana, but two? That is unforeseen for sure,” Igor and Lavenza both had smiles on their faces as they stared at Akira, the teen staring at the new card floating in front of him. “The power to not only stand up against the world, but to change it. Akira Kurusu, you have been a most wonderful guest indeed. Perhaps you may be the one to free him… Ah, but you still have something to finish, so that matter will come another time.” Upon finishing, Igor snapped his fingers, and the same light that covered his vision reappeared once again.

“Argh!” Raoul’s eyes flashed open as he could feel every single bond within his chest burn with immense determination. Everyone was calling out to him, shouting for him to keep fighting. “I… won’t let them down… Not now… Not ever!” 

Raoul’s right palm began burning as he grasped the lunar energy coming from the moon and, with his eyes flaring with determination, grabbed hold of the solar energy as well. His gloves began burning off along with the skin on his palms, and the ground underneath him trembled as all his energy began building within his hands. Inch by inch he began pushing back the celestial beams, enough to destroy any other being.

“Akira, please… Please come back safe!”

Raoul’s beating heart stilled for a moment, Violet’s plea echoing within his mind. Then, he felt it; an enormous power being built within his chest that was about to burst out.

“Maria, support me.”

Upon Raoul’s command, a gentle light began shining in front of him, his body easing as the figure of the ultimate persona of the Faith Arcana appeared before him. Within the persona, he felt Sumire; he could feel their unbreakable bond, their relationship that only grew stronger every single day. 

Her life as Kasumi; her struggles as an athlete; realizing who she was and then coming to grips again; all those memories flew through Raoul’s mind, and a smile broke out on his face as he took a deep breath in. All the injuries he had sustained began disappearing as a green energy flowed from Maria into his chest, but it was accompanied with something else. A white light, softer in tone compared to the light YHWH gave off, mingled within the healing power, and Raoul felt his mind begin to sharpen.

The bubbling energy within Raoul went straight towards his palms, but he still felt something within him, deeper still. He knew what it was, but there were other matters to deal with first. Reality trembling once again, Raoul pushed back against the celestial bodies’ attacks, straightening himself as his arms were spread open with his own energy clashing with the light and dark energy surrounding him. 

“Akira, keep fighting!”

“Don’t give in!”

“Win for us!”

“Joker, you can do it! I know you can, man!”

Deep within himself, Raoul felt all his friends cheering him on as the two orbs firing at him began to tremble, their power being overwhelmed by his own. Then, with one final push, his own energy cut straight through the two lights YHWH had crafted, freeing himself of their duel attack as he let out a sigh of relief.

Massive holes were born straight through both celestial bodies, the flames and light coming off the Sun dying as they extinguished entirely while the Moon persisted.

_“You are truly the most impressive mortal, Savi–”_

“Stop calling me that, because that’s not who I am,” Raoul cut off YHWH, turning to face the god.

_“It appears you have tired out; give in now and I will–”_

“I know what you’re going to do, but,” as he stopped, Raoul shot forward in an instance and stared YHWH in the area where its eyes were supposed to be. “I will never accept that.”

YHWH attempted to swipe at Raoul, but its blade made of light did nothing but bounce off of the fusion’s arm as Raoul stared defiantly at the god. For the first time, emotion crossed YHWH’s face, but it wasn’t what Raoul was expecting. Instead of shock or even fear, he only saw the barely noticeable features within the god’s light filled face turn downward in what appeared to be sadness, but Raoul didn’t bother lingering on that thought as he pulled back his fist as far as it could go before slamming it into the god. Chunks of YHWH’s core shattered off into the sky, YHWH’s form wavering as he slid to a stop at the edge of the disk. It was looking downward, motionless, almost helpless in a way.

_“I have misjudged you, Akira; you and your bonds were stronger than I. Though, I will return if you slay me here; humanity’s desires are my own, so I shall exist forever more. No matter what form I take, the essence of the Will of the Masses lives on, whether god, beast, or man. However, I must congratulate you on your victory.”_

Raoul stared at the god, his eyes slightly widened but his power unfaltering as he walked slowly towards the defeated god. “There’s one way to end this cycle,” Raoul said simply, reaching the god staring down at the disk that had previously been their battleground and, reaching through the wavering light surrounding its core, grabbed hold of the burning orb.

Raoul put all his strength, the strength he drew from his bonds, into his right arm as he lifted YHWH into the sky. Without another sound coming from either, Raoul kicked off the bright disk he stood upon and sailed through the bright sky towards the destroyed Moon.

 _“Are you certain, Akira? After all you had said to me, and this is your decision?”_ YHWH questioned, his voice barely above a murmur as he and Raoul flew towards the grey celestial object.

“Of course I am. ” Raoul said, his voice equally calm as he released YHWH’s core, sending the defeated god into the center of the Moon. Then, as his eyes flushed blue, Raoul held out his right hand, the same energy surrounding YHWH and holding it completely still. “Now, be put to rest for the rest of eternity. This is… the Finale of the Phantom Thieves!”

With one final burst of energy escaping Raoul, the last remaining within his body, he swept his right arm across his body, and the blue light radiating around YHWH intensified to the extent that it entirely obscured his body. Then, in one final action, Raoul brought his right arm back in front of him, holding his hand completely open, and, with a sigh, slowly closed his outstretched hand. 

The debris from the Moon floating around the battlefield began to glow with the same light that surrounded YHWH, and suddenly they all came to life, flying towards the destroyed Moon and slotted back into their rightful place. Piece by piece, YHWH was covered up, its light dimming as Raoul watched his greatest challenge lower its head. As the final part of the Moon was flying towards its spot, Raoul noticed YHWH’s light extinguish entirely, the interior of the Moon dull as it became whole again.

Akira had won.

“Did… did he do it?” Fox asked hesitantly, his eyes trained on the reformed Moon that now held YHWH, and the Thieves watched as the disk of light began to slowly disappear along with the destroyed and deactivated Sun.

“Where’s Akira?!” Skull shouted as he searched the skies, Raoul nowhere to be seen.

 _“I’ll need someone to catch me!”_

Violet’s mask flew off her face as she rushed forward, eyes wide as Ella scooped her in her arms before the Thieves and the two adults could even react. The persona rushed through the sky, the rain and wind that had previously disappeared returning once again in full force as they attempted to hold her back, but her determination was stronger. She could see Akira’s body plummeting towards the ground, barely in sight as he neared an open chasm. She was hundreds of feet away; she wouldn’t make it in time. Putting everything she had left behind Ella, Violet forced her other self to even greater speeds, the splitting headache paling in comparison to the resolve set within her heart. 

Her lover sank into the abyss, but Violet didn’t relent as Ella was pushed even faster, diving into the chasm after Akira without hesitation. His lifeless body was spotted instantly by Violet, heading directly for a spiked chunk of earth at deadly speeds. Ella was moving as fast as Violet could make her, but it wasn’t fast enough as Akira continued nearing his death. 

“No!” Violet screamed at herself, jumping out of her persona’s arms after her beloved. She couldn’t bear losing him, and she was going to be the one to save him. She had to. Ella grasped the redhead’s left arm as Violet reached towards Akira, her eyes widened as she saw the rock near Akira’s head with every passing moment, when…

Her hand grasped Akira’s wrist, both bodies coming to a stop quickly as Ella reversed her momentum, Akira’s head within inches of the rock as Violet pulled him up to safety while Ella did the same for her. The instant Violet felt Akira’s warm breath hit her neck as he fell forward within her arms, her entire body relaxed, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes as Ella began climbing out of the chasm. 

“Akira… I love you,” Violet whispered, knowing Akira couldn’t hear her as she smiled down at her resting loved one. Blinking slowly, Violet brushed her lips against Akira’s forehead, her tears slowly streaming down her face. “It’s… It’s all over, Akira. We… You did it...”

The rain and wind continued battering the two as Ella shot back towards the group, Violet keeping her grasp around Akira strong but tender as she stroked his face. Seeing him rest so peacefully after a fight he just had was incredible, almost humorous as Violet nearly let out a small giggle. She couldn’t believe the feeling within her, but she held onto the happiness and hope for a normal life within her heart as Ella descended towards the Thieves.

“Guys, get in! We don’t have time for a welcome back party, we can do that later!” Violet only just called Ella back into her consciousness as jumped into the air, transforming into the Mona-bus as the ground began to rumble. Sae stared at the cat, stunned silent but Sojiro rushed towards the driver’s seat. 

“Boss?” Queen let out. The older man only looked back and smiled, stunning the rest of the Thieves as they ran towards the cat-car.

“You guys are tired; the least this old fart can do is drive you all to safety! Now, do as the cat-car said and get in!” Sojiro exclaimed, getting into the car and pressing the ignition. Everyone nodded, Violet jumping in first with Akira sleeping soundly within her arms.

“Alright boss, we’re all in!” Skull shouted. Sojiro nodded, immediately pushing down on the gas just as the ground underneath them crumbled entirely. The Mona-bus shot forward, and a grin covered Sojiro’s face; he hadn’t driven like this in ages. The debris falling around him, the chasms opening suddenly; nothing was a match to Sojiro’s expert driving skills as he never let up on the gas.

“Where are we going?” Sae shouted.

“Just keep going straight, Boss!” Mona shouted back. 

“Got it!” Sojiro grunted back, pressing down even harder on the gas. Violet held onto Akira tightly as the Mona-bus swerved and bounced roughly, hearing his steady breathing as Mona shot forward towards a ravine in front of them. “Hey Morgana, you got anything for this?” Sojiro shouted out, not daring to slow down as he stared around the wheel.

“I don’t know!” Mona shouted back, the distance between him and the ravine getting closer and closer. “Wait, this happened in Maruki’s palace… I have to have something!” As Mona shouted that, a blue light came from Akira’s chest and behind the cat-car, revealing two boosters on his back. “Chief, press the new button above the ignition! It’ll get us ov-Whoa!” Mona was cut off by Sojiro slamming his fist onto the button, sending the Mona-car forward up and over the ravine. As they landed, a bright light began blinding the Thieves and the two adults until they couldn’t see anything anymore as they exited the palace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loooooooong chapter, but now everything is finally over for the Thieves. Or is it? Igor said something interesting at the end there, so maybe there's another mission for Akira? But no more gods to control humanity.  
> Huge shout out to Light_Sumire, ShrugFace, and Theroonco for leaving kind words in the comments along with everyone else who commented below! This obviously isn't the end, but I just want to share my appreciation for you guys.  
> Also check out "Fool's protection" by DigitalKing21. It's a retelling of P5R with an original character and an interesting spin on it! https://archiveofourown.org/works/24422587/chapters/58920343


	11. Chapter 11

“Argh!” The thieves and the two adults all shouted as they collapsed in front of Leblanc. They all took a second to steady themselves before looking around; they were indeed back in reality. Snow was lightly falling around them, the cold night breeze biting into the group.

“God, why do we always have to cut it so damn close!” Ryuji cursed, rubbing his behind as he got off the ground.

“That’s just the nature of our job,” Yusuke responded, holding onto Ann who had landed in his lap.

“Are you saying that’s how it always is?” Sae questioned the blue haired boy, her and Sojiro both having a confused and exhausted look on their faces.

“ Yeah… Unfortunately. Futaba’s palace was the wor-Hey, let go!” Ann yelled as she was fed up with Yusuke holding onto her, pushing him backwards. Luckily, before his head hit the concrete, Sojiro caught his head. “Oh my god, I am so sorry!”

“Why does this always happen?” Yusuke let that question out to no one, and the group started to laugh a little bit.

“Even this happens a lot?” Sojiro chuckled as he helped Yusuke to his feet. The blue haired boy nodded solemnly before turning to Sojiro.

“Thank you, Boss,” Yusuke bowed at the older man who lightly scoffed at the gesture. 

“Don’t mention it,” Sojiro waved away the boy's thanks as his face scrunched up in confusion, eyes landing on Sumire. Everyone else followed his gaze as they looked over at the red head; panic was evident in her eyes as she looked around wildly.

“What’s wrong Sumire-chan?” Haru asked the girl, concern breaking through her voice.

“Akira… where’s Akira?!” Sumire let out, eyes welling up with tears as the Thieves’ leader was nowhere to be seen. She ran immediately into Leblanc, with everyone right behind her into the still lit cafe.

“He’s upsta-” Sojiro called out behind her, everyone following close behind her as she looked around the empty store. Before Sojiro could finish, she sprinted towards the stairs and flew upstairs. 

“Akira!” She shouted out as she reached the attic, her eyes landing on the middle of the room where Akira was sprawled on the ground. Sweat covered his face, but there wasn’t any sign of struggle as his chest steadily moved up and down. Sumire fell to her knees beside him, taking off her scarf to wipe away the sweat on her beloved’s forehead as everyone else caught up with her. They all stood at the entrance, stunned by the sight of their unconscious leader on the floor.

“Kid!” Sojiro shouted, pushing through the stunned teens as he knelt beside Sumire. He put his hand on Akira’s forehead, Sumire moving out of the way as the older man let out a sigh of relief. “Thank god, he seems to be okay.” Ryuji walked up beside Sojiro to help pick up the still unconscious Akira and placed him on the bed, Sumire kneeling right beside him.

“So, he’s still asleep, huh?” Ryuji said, feeling his chest tighten up at the sight of his best friend. The worst possible outcome popped into his mind as he felt tears forming in his eyes.“Do you thi–”

“Don’t finish that thought, please,” Ann said, looking down at the ground. Even though Ryuji didn’t finish, they all knew what he was thinking, and they all stared at the ground.

The only sound in the room was Sumire weeping at Akira’s side, head on his bed.

“I—I’m so sorry, Akira…” She wept, gripping Akira’s hand as she felt lost and alone. “I… couldn’t help you, and now I’ve lost you and Kasumi!” Tears began falling from everyone’s faces as Sumire wept loudly, the only other sound in the night being a dog barking from a nearby apartment. 

“What’s everyone crying about?” A familiar voice rang out from above Sumire, causing her to shoot her head up from the futon. Her tears stopped as she stared at the man she loved more than anything smiling sweetly at her, nothing but love and adoration in his eyes.

“Akira?” She stared at him briefly, reaching out her hand to touch his face. She needed to make sure this was real. Her hand touched skin, and immediately threw herself into his arms, crying tears of joy. 

“Woah there!” Akira chuckled as Sumire buried her head in his chest, unable to stop her tears as wet spots formed on his plain shirt as he held her close. Akira moved to stand up with Sumire in his arms as the rest of the group couldn’t help but rush the teen as well, joining in for a group hug.

“Kid, you gotta stop getting into trouble…” Sojiro muttered, tears lightly falling down his face as he grinned at the boy. “My old heart can’t take this much stress.” 

“Sorry about that, Sojiro,” Akira lightly chuckled, all his friends letting go as Sumire tightened her grip around him. Akira looked around at his friends; all of them were beaming at him with tears in their eyes. He then looked down at Sumire, who was still silently crying into his chest and patted her on the head. “Thank you, everyone. For everything,” Akira said, grey eyes calm as he stared at the shocked expressions on his friends' faces.

“What are you thanking us for?” Ann asked as she wiped away her tears, new ones forming to take their place. “We should be thanking you, idiot.” Akira shook his head at that, his smile growing slightly as he looked his friends in the eyes, holding Sumire even tighter against his chest.

“Because, without you guys backing me up I’d be dead right now, plain and simple,” Akira shrugged slightly, Sumire gasping slightly as the thought of him dying ran through her mind. Akira put his hand to her head in reassurance, his friends smiling at the two as he calmed her down. “The bonds I’ve made with not only you guys but everyone else kept me going; it allowed me to stand up against that god.” Akira’s smile became wider. Everyone, including Sumire, looked at him in shocked silence; seeing Akira smile was already a rare occurrence, but this was on a whole other level. Before anyone could say anything, Akira looked down at Sumire, who quickly buried her head back into his chest, her cheeks as red as her hair. He let out a low chuckle as he ran his hand through her hair before taking in a deep breath.

“Hey, Sumi. It’s alright, I’m not going anywhere,” Akira reassured her, his hand now idle on the top of her head. She only tightened her grip around him more.

“ That’s why I’m not letting go,” Sumire muttered into Akira’s chest, only Akira was able to hear her response. Akira’s smile turned into a smirk; he heard her, but how could he pass up the opportunity to tease her?

“What was that, Sumi?” Akira replied innocently, his heart swelling as she somehow clung to him even harder.

“That’s why I’m not letting go!” Sumire shouted into Akira’s chest, loud enough for everyone to hear her. Akira, now satisfied, put his arms back around Sumire and closed his eyes.

“Hey, go on downstairs and leave these two be!” Sojiro whispered at everyone staring happily at the couple, the group all nodding their heads as Akira gave Sojiro a thankful nod. Sojiro simply gave a smirk back, mouthing the words “hoo boy” at the teen as he motioned everyone downstairs until Akira and Sumire were alone in each other’s arms. Closing his eyes, Akira swayed his body back and forth; both of them felt safe within each other's arms and neither wanted to let go. After a minute of standing like that, Akira let out a small sigh and put his hands on Sumire’s shoulders. The girl didn’t resist as Akira lightly pushed her away so he could stare into her eyes. A slight amount of regret could be seen within them as Sumire stared up at her beloved’s face.

“Sumire… I’m so sorry that I pushed you away like that,” Akira began, taking a breath as he cleared his mind. Sumire simply stared up at her boyfriend, fighting back tears as she waited for the rest of his apology. “I didn’t want you to get hurt, but… I still felt awful. Thank you… Thank you for catching me.” Akira stared into Sumire’s eyes, eyes full of honesty and love for the girl in front of him

“Senpai…” Sumire breathed out, her heart rate speeding up from Akira’s words. She tried to look down as she remembered how she treated him earlier today, but Akira pulled her head back up into a light kiss. Sumire melted in his hand, her heart feeling like it was about to burst as tears began falling again. Akira backed away from the kiss as he saw the tears, allowing her to speak.

“I-I love you… so much Senpai, that I readily accepted my mind being manipulated by that god. I just wanted to be near you all the time, but I caused you so much pa-” Sumire was cut off by Akira squeezing her harder.

“Stop that. It wasn’t anyone’s fault; the only one at fault here is that god,” Akira reassured her, before pulling her back so he could look into her eyes.

“Bu-but I forced you to go through so much; I saw all of your memories. Morgana told us about you cr-crying early last year, and I was a part of those rumors!” Sumire exclaimed, voice cracking with grief. Akira continued to stare her in the eyes, his own full of warmth and kindness.

“You can’t blame yourself for that, you didn’t know what you do now,” Akira shook his head before his gaze landed back onto his beloved. “And all those glimpses you saw? Those moments of agony were just that: moments. For all of my painful memories, there are thousands upon thousands of happy memories,” Akira smiled as he wiped away Sumire’s tears. He leaned into Sumire’s ear and whispered, “Most of them with you.”

Sumire began to giggle, her tears drying as Akira pulled her in again. “Senpai, thank you,” she said as he held her close, swaying together as they both felt each other’s heartbeat through their chests.

“Hey lovebirds! Come on down before your coffee gets cold!” Sojiro called from down below, causing Akira and Sumire to look at each other, their cheeks burning red. Akira chuckled and, taking Sumire’s hand, led her downstairs.

All of the thieves stared at them with smiles on their face; they knew that Akira was just cheering up Sumire, nothing else. Ryuji, on the other hand, while he knew what was going on, had a big smirk on his face.

“K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” he taunted, making kissy faces at Akira. Sumire’s face burned bright red as she hid her face into Akira’s chest while Akira just threw his head back and laughed, though a small blush formed on his cheeks as well.

“Really, Ryuji?” Ann admonished the blonde, smacking his head beside her. 

“Ow!” Ryuji shouted, rubbing the back of his head as Akira led Sumire, who was still covering her face in Akira’s side, to the booth with the two blondes on the other side of them. The rest of the group sat in the adjacent booths with Sae sitting at the bar and Sojiro behind the coffee maker brewing a fresh cup for Akira. Akira scanned the room, all his friends and father figure looking smiling back at him as he felt a calm, cool wave rush through his body. His eyes began to droop as he laid his head on Sumire’s shoulder, an “eep” escaping from her lips as everyone else stared at him in shock.

“Senpai?” Sumire’s voice came from beneath him. Akira opened his eyes and looked down, seeing a worried look in Sumire’s eyes. He gave her a warm smile and kissed her forehead; he felt at ease. Sumire’s face lit bright red as she realized everyone was staring at them again, looking down at her feet in embarrassment. Akira let out another small chuckle, no signs of stress or worry on his face. Sae narrowed her eyes at the teen; she had never seen him so… happy before.

“Akira, this is a stark difference from how you normally act. Are you sure you’re okay?” Sae asked with concern in her voice. Akira gently lifted his head to face the woman and nodded in response, his content smile never leaving his face.

“It’s hard for me to put into words. I feel…” Akira looked around the room; each of his friends looked at him expectedly, including Sumire. “I feel like I’m finally at peace.” Akira nodded his head; that was the right word. He looked inward and saw Raoul smirking back at him; he was surrounded by his loved ones, the ones that cared for him. To Raoul, that was all that mattered.

“At peace? But Akira, that thing is still…” Ryuji’s thought trailed off as everyone averted their gaze from their leader. The two adults were still slightly confused by what he was about to say, but stayed silent as everyone around them looked defeated; all except Akira.

“Guys, it’s alright. No need to be down like that,” Akira warmly smiled at his friends, the teens not willing to meet his comforting eyes from all the guilt built within them.

“But Akira, we failed you! That god is still within you!” Futaba burst out, tears running down her face. Everyone else began to tear up slightly at the realization, and that’s when it fully hit the two adults; Akira hadn’t killed it, but simply formed something akin to a prison around it. Akira’s smile didn’t waver; instead, it only grew larger.

“Failed? Far from it; if anything, it was a huge success!” Akira softly exclaimed, looking all of his friends in the eyes. Just seeing them all in front of him meant the world to him.“Guys, it was always meant to end this way. No matter what, if I destroyed that god another one would have taken its place,” Akira finished, happily taking a drink of the fresh coffee Sojiro laid out for him.

“I… but we... huh…” Yusuke tried to counter Akira’s point, but simply seeing his closest friend so happy broke through his doubts. Akira muttered to himself “Colombian Narino, huh?” as everyone tried to process what he just said, that everything turned out perfectly. Ryuji opened his mouth as Morgana put his front paws on the table.

“Well, if Akira is alright with everything that happened, then there’s nothing to worry about!” Morgana put his front paws onto the table as he announced to the thieves. Everyone nodded their head at the cat, with Sojiro and Sae looking over in surprise.

“Wow, the cat just talked…” Sae muttered to herself, Sojiro nodding his head in agreement as the Thieves all looked over at them. Akira couldn’t help himself as he burst into a fit of laughter in god knows how long.

“Akira?” Sumire looked over at her beloved, her heart fluttering as she never heard a laugh like this come from him before. Akia couldn’t stop himself as he continued belly laughing, tears forming in his eyes as he could barely catch his breath. Akira’s laughter soon broke through the gloomy feeling hanging over the cafe, smiles forcing their ways onto everyone's faces from the infectious joy radiating from the jubilant teen. Sumire was the first one to begin laughing, leaning into Akira for support as any and all stress in her body seeped away.

In mere seconds the previously dead cafe was filled with laughter, the two adults staring at the former Phantom Thieves with smiles on their faces. Sojiro’s eyes were glued on Akira and Sumire, tears beginning to form again from the overwhelming happiness he felt; seeing the kid he considered to be his son so happy with his girlfriend next to him was something he never thought he’d seen. He had seen Akira happy, but never quite like this. “Heh, a kid being able to make me cry like this isn’t right…” Sojiro muttered to himself, Akira being the only one to catch the older man wiping away his tears. Letting out a cough loud enough to catch the laughing teens’ attention, Sojiro brought his glass of water in front of him into the air.

“He’s taking over…” Futaba grumbled to herself, Sojiro electing to ignore the offhand comment as his and Akira’s gazes met. 

“Something tremendous has happened today; that much alone I can say with great confidence,” Sojiro announced, eyes falling onto each and every one of the people within Leblanc. To his surprise, Sae stood up next to him and raised her own glass.

“Sojiro and I have seen it with our own eyes; the Phantom Thieves saving humanity yet again,” Sae added on, Sojro frowning as this was supposed to be HIS toast. He shook his head, a smile replacing the frown as he looked back at Akira.

“Kid- no, Akira,” Sojiro began again, Akira’s eyes sparkling at the older man as Sojiro rarely called him by his first name. “On behalf of the entire world, thank you. They may never know of what happened today, but what you did will never be forgotten.” Sojiro paused as Akira beamed back at him, tears threatening to run down both men’s cheeks before Sojiro broke eye contact. 

Akira grinned, fighting back his own tears as he reached over for his cup of coffee and raised it up, quickly followed by seven more cups raised.

“To the Phantom Thieves!” Sojiro exclaimed.

“To the Phantom Thieves!” Everyone else shouted, Sumire quitely calling out “And Akira!” afterwards. Akira let out another loud laugh, Sumire’s face glowing bright red as everyone smiled directly at her. “And Akira!” Everyone shouted along, Akira finishing his laughter as everyone sipped at their drink.

Sojiro went towards his curry pot and plated several plates of curry. Akira noticed that he was struggling to get them all and attempted to get up. “You stay there, mister!” Sojiro yelled at the teen, a shocked look on Akira’s face as Sumire put her hand on his forearm. She brought him back down to his seat with a smile on her face as Sojiro picked up four plates of curry. Eventually, everyone had curry in front of them, Sumire and Akira with two plates in front of them as a low rumble came from that side of the booth. Everyone’s eyes went to Sumire as she looked down, her cheeks reddening. However, everyone’s eyes widened as Akira also looked down sheepishly.

“Hah! Looks like you guys need this!” Sojiro barked out a laugh as everyone let out a “Thank you for the meal!” and dug into the curry. To Akira, it was the best meal he had ever eaten; he couldn’t stop as the complex flavors filled every crook of his mouth. He didn’t realize how hungry he was until his chopsticks hit his empty plate, a similar sound coming from Sumire’s plate next to him.

“Wha-what did I just watch?” Ann asked in disbelief, Ryuji’s jaw wide open as everyone else stared at the still hungry couple; everyone else had barely eaten at that point. Sojiro let out a loud laugh as he got up from his seat next to Sae, walking over to the two blushing teens and picked up their plates.

“Seconds, coming right up for the lovebirds!” Sojiro announced, Akira’s and Sumire’s blush deepening as no one said a word to them before breaking into laughter.

“Damn Akira! I never thought I’d see the day that you would keep up with Sumire!” Ryuji exclaimed through his laughter, Akira beginning to join in on the laughter. Sumire turned to him, a pout forming on her face before she also began giggling. In seemingly no time, their plates were back in front of them with Sojiro grinning from ear to ear at the two.

“Thanks, Sojiro!” Akira called out.

“Thank you so much, Sakura-san!” Sumire politely bowed at the older man, who waved her politeness off.

“Please, call me Sojiro. That’s what the kid calls me, so you get special treatment,” Sojiro said, his grin somehow becoming wider as Sumire went beet red at his comment.

“Al-alright, So-Soj-Sojiro…” Sumire stuttered out. Akira chuckled at his flustered girlfriend beside him just as their stomachs both growled in unison.

“Okay, back to eating everyone!” Sojiro exclaimed, turning back to his seat as everyone dug into their food. Akira tried to slow down this time, keeping an eye on Sumire as she attempted to do the same. 

‘Apparently fighting an all powerful being makes you really hungry,’ Akira thought to himself, face full of Sojiro’s curry before washing it down with a fresh cup of coffee Sojiro laid out in front of him. ‘Eh, go figure.’ 

“Damn, this is really good boss!” Ryuji said, mouth full of curry as he yelled past Ann. 

“Ryuji, swallow first!” Ann exclaimed as she recoiled in disgust, Morgana looking up from his tiny plate to join in. 

“You’re so disgusting, Ryuji…” Morgana shook his head at the blonde-haired teen.

“Just look at the mess you’re creating, you stupid cat!” Ryuji yelled back, pointing at some spilled curry on the booth by Akira. “Akira, you gotta ba-Holy hell that was fast!” Ryuji yelped as he stared at the second pair of clean plates in front of Akira and Sumire. 

“What can I say? Fighting a god makes a man hungry,” Akira said, looking over as Sojiro got up from his seat. “We’re fine, Sojiro. Leave the thirds to me. But,” Akira let out a big yawn, his eyelids falling down. “Fighting a god also makes a man sleepy…” Akira’s eyes closed, the concerned voices of his friends fading away as he fell asleep.

They shot open again, and Akira knew instantly where he was. He felt the cold steel beneath his back and could hear the rattling of chains all around him. Swinging his feet off of the metallic bed, Akira stood up and saw the two beings that had guided him to this point and had shown themselves during the fight with YHWH.

As he took a step through the now open doorway, Igor simply chuckled to himself and clapped.

“You never cease to amaze me, Trickster,” Igor continued to chuckle. “Instead of ending your chapter in this game by destroying YHWH, you instead decided to seal it within you. With that, you prevented another “god” from taking its place. Truly, you have been a wonderful guest.”

Igor stared directly at Akira as Lavenza took a step forward, causing Akira’s gaze to shift towards her.

“Like my master has stated, you have sealed the will of the masses within yourself, not only granting humanity freedom from their own desires, but granting you even greater power,” Lavenza stated. Akira’s face scrunched up in confusion before feeling it; the Universe Arcana burning deep within himself.

“Yes… My master told you during your combat with the god, but you have acquired the Universe Arcana. I have never seen such a power before, but my master said only one other being has ever obtained it before,” Lavenza finished, leaving Akira with multiple questions swirling in his mind.

“What does this power entail?” was the first one that came out of his mouth.

Igor then spoke up. “Like I mentioned before, it is the power to change the world, to continue doing the impossible. Trickster, upon sealing the “god” within yourself, you not only took on the burden of the entire Metaverse, but you have gained the ability to face any distortions, even in reality.” Akira’s eyes widened. 

“Do you mean…?” Akira started.

“Yes. Your power from within the Metaverse and your normal state have fused, allowing you to fight in reality as if within a Palace,” Lavenza confirmed Akira’s suspicions. Before Akira could ask another question, Lavenza continued on. “Mementos has also returned. With the power you have now, you have access to Mementos at any time. My master has also been very gracious to grant your friends the Metaverse Navigator again, if you desire to continue your work.” 

Akira looked at the two before everything they said fully processed in his mind; he could  _ become _ Raoul in reality. He then remembered his other question as he focused back onto Igor. “What about that other person you mentioned? The one with the Universe Arcana,” Akira questioned the long nosed man and, for the first time ever, saw sadness fill his eyes.

“That user… Makoto Yuki was his name… used a similar power to seal away a great being of death. My assistant then went out on a self assigned quest to free him from that being, and has been fighting it for all this time,” Igor finished, returning back to his regular creepy smile.

“As my master says, my second eldest sister has been away for quite a while in an attempt to fight back against this great being,” Lavenza chimed in. “I have a feeling that she will be drawn to your power, sooner or later. Her name is Elizabeth.”

Suddenly, red lights and a loud alarm blared around them. Akira looked back at Igor as Igor began to talk once again. “Ah, it seems our time here is done. Now that your journey is over, we will be taking our leave.”

“Trickster, once again we thank you for protecting this reality from distortions; now, return to your life, not as the Trickster of an unjust game or as Joker of the Phantom Thieves, but as Akira Kurusu,” Lavenza stated as the room started to glow white.

“Thank you, Lavenza, Igor. For everything,” Akira said as tears flowed down his cheeks, the velvet room disappearing before him and turning into the blue butterfly from before.

“Akira!”

Akira’s eyes shot open, and he found himself staring up at a crowd of worried faces. As the group saw that his eyes were opened, they all relaxed, moving away to give him space. All except for Sumire, who continued staring into his eyes from above.

“Uh, Sumire? I’m awake now…” Akira said as realization hit Sumire’s eyes, throwing herself back into her seat with a tiny “Sorry, Senpai.”. Akira sat up at his booth just as Ryuji bursted out.

“Dude, stop falling asleep on us! You had us worried there!” Ryuji’s voice cracked as he chastised his best friend.

“Sorry about that. I just had a chat with some people,” Akira said as he rubbed the back of his head. He would have shot a look over at Sojiro, but the man already knew that this was something well outside his realm of knowledge. 

“Welp, I’ll leave the store to you, Akira,” Sojiro said as he grabbed his things and began walking towards the door.

“I’ll be heading out as well,” Sae mentioned, close behind Sojiro as she turned back to face Akira. “Akira, one more time: Thank you for everything,” She said as she bowed, Akira smiling back at her as she left the store with Sojiro. Everyone turned back to Akira as they returned to their previous conversation.

“I’m assuming you mean with Lady Lavenza and Igor, correct?” Morgana questioned immediately.

“Yeah,” Akira nodded at his feline friend. “We just had our last goodbye.” Akira smiled as he felt the Velvet Room key in his pants pocket.

“Last goodbye? Does that mean they left?” Ann asked, leaning forward on the table. Akira just nodded his head.

“Was there anything else of importance that you discussed with them?” Yusuke asked, curiosity gleaming in his eyes.

“I’ll try to put this as simply as I can; due to YHWH being sealed inside me, I have full control over the power he was going to use to control humanity. That includes entering into Mementos and even,” Akira paused as he focused inward. Suddenly, red flames surrounded him and he was in his new Metaverse outfit. “This.”

“What?!” The thieves all shouted, staring in disbelief. Ryuji looked down at himself, then at Morgana.

“We’re not in the Metaverse, right? I mean, the rest of us aren’t in our Thieves clothes!” Ryuji exclaimed.

“Y-yeah. I would have transformed as well!” Morgana added. “To my knowledge, there has never been a persona user that has been able to hold their powers outside of the Metaverse!”

Akira relaxed his body, turning his clothes back to normal. “I’m still at a loss myself,” he shook his head.

“Wait, that just reminded me of something: you FUSED with your persona during that fight, right?” Ryuji asked as everyone intently stared at Akira.

“Also, your clothes changed completely! What’s up with that?” Ann added.

“I remember a conversation I had with Dr. Maruki a while back,” Akira began, everyone wincing at their former councillor’s name. “I remember he said something to the effect that my image of what I want to be like and my actual self were nearly identical, or something along those lines. What happened with the fight with that god,” Akira stared up at his friends, “was my image, my inner self and my actual self perfectly aligning.”

The thieves all had their mouth’s agape at the explanation from Akira, not actually expecting such a succinct response. All except Morgana, who excitedly jumped up and down on the table.

“You see! I was right about what I said!” Morgana happily chattered, Akira giving him a knowing smile as everyone else attempted to ignore the gloating cat.

“I… guess that makes sense…” Makoto put her hand to her chin. Everyone nodded their heads as Sumire took a close look at Akira’s face. He seemed no longer to be hiding anything; his truest self was on full display.

“Akira, what are you planning on doing with that?” Haru asked, returning to the original topic they had been discussing. Akira closed his eyes and thought for a second before opening them up again.

“I can’t ignore injustice around me; that’s how this all started in the first place. If there’s evil around me, I feel responsible to correct it. And,” Akira paused, looking at his hand. “With my powers back, I will continue to fight.” Akira stared at his friends, his resolve set.

“Just… be careful, okay?” Makoto said, standing at the head of the booth. “We don’t have our powers anymore, s–”

“What do you mean you don’t?” Akira grinned, allowing energy to course out of his body and around the room. The group looked down at themselves in shock as their clothes were turned into their Thieves' outfits. Morgana, who was standing on the table, had also turned into his Metaverse form.

“Akira-senpai, are you really capable of all this?” Sumire looked over at her lover, who now had his eyes closed and a concentrated look on his face. The thieves gasped again as their clothes turned back as Akira broke his concentration, breathing out slowly.

“The only problem is that it takes a lot out of me to do it for everyone at once, I guess,” Akira sighed, but a smile formed on his face. “I’m not saying we reinstate the Phantom Thieves, but if there’s people in danger around me or if I get a special request from someone close, I’m gonna do it.” Akira stared at his friends around him. The group looked around at each, unsure of what to say, when Sumire spoke up.

“I’m with you, Senpai!” she exclaimed, with her reward being a beaming smile from Akira. 

“Count me in as well! If you need help and I’m nearby, give me a call!” Ryuji said, stretching his arms.

“I’ll help in any way as well! I can’t promise I’ll always be free, but I’ll be there whenever possible!” Ann promised as she winked over at Akira.

“I will gladly assist you whenever necessary, Akira. Give me notice before and I will heed your call,” Yusuke leaned forward, giving Akira a bright smile.

“I’ll be there if you’re in trouble, Akira. Inform me at any time if there’s a new mission,” Makoto nodded at Akira.

“I’ll help as well! I know that I’ll be busy with the company and college, but I won’t leave you be if you need help!” Haru excitedly reassured Akira.

“I won’t be able to fight like those guys, but I’ll provide support in any way I can. Wait, do you think I can do this from my room?” Futaba asked quickly, with only a shrug from Akira as her answer. 

Akira looked over at the black cat on the table, still not getting an answer from him. Morgana looked over and found Akira’s expectant gaze on him.

“Do I really have to say it? Of course I’ll help you! I’m your partner, after all!” Morgana meowed. Akira grinned at that; hearing all of his friends tell him that they would help meant the world to him.

“Thanks, everyone. We’re connected far deeper than any of you know, so just let me know if you need help and you’ll have your powers again,” Akira notified the thieves. All of a sudden, he heard stomachs growling around him, his and Sumire’s being the loudest. Everyone looked at each other before bursting into laughter. Akira motioned for Sumire to get up, to which she complied. 

“Here, I’ll make you guys seconds,” Akira said as he walked over to the kitchen.

“I’ll help you!” Sumire exclaimed, bouncing happily behind him.

“You sure? It’s gonna be a bit cramped,” Akira warned her. Sumire just gave him a big smile to which he gave her a peck on the cheek before getting to work.

“Could you get out some extra rice, Sumi?” Akira called behind him as he began the prep work, Sumire doing just that. Sojiro had left some extra curry out, but it wasn’t enough so Akira went to work. The Thieves went back to idle chatter until Ryuji’s eyes lit up; it was clear that he had an idea.

“Hey Yusuke, wanna arm wrestle?” Ryuji asked excitedly, already pulling up his sleeve and staring at the tall teen. Yusuke stared at Ryuji, confusion written all over his face.

“Why?” The bluenette questioned, taken aback at the sudden question.

“Because! We gotta do something fun, right?” Ryuji said, a not very convincing pout on his face as Yusuke continued to think.

“Ryuji, I’ll take you on!” Futaba exclaimed, walking over to the booth and sat in front of Ryuji, arm already on the table.

“Futaba!?” Ryuji asked, shocked at the frail girl in front of him. He really wasn’t expecting her to challenge him.

“What Ryuji, you scared?” Ann taunted, giving him a devilish grin as he glared over at her.

“Fine! But I’m going all out, dammit!” Ryuji shouted, locking hands with Futaba. Akira looked up from the curry at his friends and grinned; he was truly blessed to have them in his life. Sumire followed his gaze, a smile dancing onto her face as well at the sudden excitement in the room as everyone positioned themselves to watch.

“Alright! Are you ready?” Haru asked, assigning herself the role of referee and standing at the head of the table. “3,2,1, Go!” The two began, Ryuji clearly having an advantage as he nearly brought Futaba’s arm down instantly.

“Hey, that’s cheating!” Ryuji struggled as Futaba pushed her full weight onto Ryuji’s hand, causing it to be pushed back to the other side. Ryuji looked expectantly at Haru, who just looked innocently back at him. “Ugh, fine!” Ryuji shook his head and returned his attention back to Futaba. With a loud grunt, he put all his power into his arm as he pushed Futaba back.

“Impressive Ryuji!” Yusuke called, putting his hands up to frame the two battling it out.

“Go Futaba!” Ann called from beside Ryuji, poking him in the side. This caused Ryuji to lose a little ground, as his face strained even more.

“H-hey! Stop it!” Ryuji shouted, him and Futaba now locked in the middle.

“C’mon, Ryuji! Keep it up!” Morgana cheered him on. With a roar, Ryuji pushed Futaba's hand to the other side of the table, claiming victory for himself. Futaba fell down onto the booth, utterly exhausted.

“Good… Good fight, Futaba, but you’re gonna have to try a lot harder than that!” Ryuji panted, sweat dripping from his head. Futaba got up and nodded her head, trying to catch her breath.

Akira noticed that Futaba was struggling to breath, so he left Sumire to stir the curry while he went through the fridge. Finding a water bottle, he tossed it to Ann, who then gave it to Futaba.

After a big gulp and a few seconds of catching her breath, Futaba laid her head down on the table, defeated.

“Man… Even with cheat codes I couldn’t beat you, Ryuji. What, are you the final boss or something?” Futaba pouted. Ryuji grinned at her before Yusuke sat down in front of him, placing his arm on the table.

“Now you want to?” Ryuji asked, still tired from his duel with Futaba.

“Indeed. It looked a good deal of fun and I wanted to give it a try,” Yusuke explained. “I will not be using these ‘Cheat codes’ Futaba is talking about, because I am a man of honor.”

“Oh shut it, Inari!” Futaba fired back, before dozing off on the table despite being squished between Yusuke and Ann.

“Alright, you’re on!” Ryuji placed his arm on the table and locked hands and eyes with Yusuke. Haru took up her spot again, an excited smile on her face.

“Okay! Round two! 3, 2, 1--” 

“Hold on everyone,” Akira’s voice stopped everyone in their tracks. “Curry’s ready!” Everyone instantly cheered with Ryuji internally thankful to Akira as Akira and Sumire placed the plates down in front of the Thieves, Yusuke allowing Futaba to escape from her prison between him and Ann. As soon as everyone got their seconds, Akira sat down beside Sumire with their thirds. 

“Thank you for the food!” Everyone shouted out before digging in. The curry Akira had made was exactly the same as Sojiro’s but with his own spin to it; he had fooled around with some spices and other ingredients until he made something that felt right to him and, in his eyes, perfected an already perfect recipe. The food went down quickly as the Thieves were all eager to continue the arm wrestling competition.

Ryuji struggled against Yusuke for a while, despite him having noodle-like arms he was fairly strong. Then Makoto and Haru came next, both nearly defeating Ryuji before he came back with all his might, with Ann coming directly after Haru. She knew that Ryuji would be tired, but didn’t expect him to still have so much energy as she quickly lost to him. Finally, Ryuji turned to Sumire and pointed his index finger at her.

“Wha- me?!” the girl asked, surprised at the sudden challenge. She looked over at Akira, almost as if asking for permission.

“Do what you want, Sumi. You don’t have to ask me,” Akira gave her a sweet smile, folding his arms and crossing his legs. She looked at Akira for a second before nodding her head. She walked over to the booth and sat down opposite to Ryuji, a determined look falling on her immediately. 

“Watch out, Ryuji. She’s strong,” Akira called out, his smile turning into a grin he stared at the two. Ryuji gulped; he knew when Akira was lying or telling the truth, and the look on his face signified he was deadly serious.

“Y-You ready?” Ryuji stuttered, his arm feeling sore from the prior matches. Sumire simply nodded her head as the two clasped hands. Haru counted down for the two, and the struggle began again. The girls all cheered on Sumire, while Yusuke and Morgana cheered on Ryuji. Akira sat at his seat, smiling as his best friend and his girlfriend battled it out. Morgana noticed this and turned over to Akira.

“Akira! Aren’t you going to cheer on Ryuji?” He yelped while Ryuji was pushing Sumire’s hand down.

“C’mon, Joker! Cheer for your girlfriend!” Ann called out on the other side, Sumire regaining ground on Ryuji. 

“Nah, I’m gonna stay impartial on this one,” Akira shook his head, witnessing the epic battle between the two. 

Eventually, Ryuji emerged victorious after five minutes of intense arm wrestling.

“Damn… Akira wasn’t lying…” Ryuji stated, massaging his arm and resting his head on the table.

“Th-thanks, Ryuji…” Sumire panted, accepting her defeat. Ryuji let out a long sigh, everyone looking down at him with a mixture of pity and awe at how strong he was.

“Alright, let’s give Ryuji a bre–” Makoto began, before Ryuji’s head popped up again.

“No way! Akira, you’re my last fight! Let’s give it our all!” If Ryuji was tired, he wasn’t showing it. Akira simply sighed with a slight smile on his face as he walked over to the booth. Sumire moved over to allow Akira to sit down, and he put his arm on the table.

“Be warned Ryuji: you won’t win this. Not by a longshot,” Akira said, a very serious glint in his eyes. Everyone looked at him stunned, while Ryuji only grinned at his best friend.

“Let’s do this!” 

After Haru counted down, it seemed as though the two hadn’t moved at all despite the immense strain shown on Ryuji’s face.

“Wh- what’s going on? C’mon, arm wrestle!” Futaba demanded out of the two.

“W-We are!” Ryuji stammered as he pushed on Akira’s hand with all his might, but to no avail. In fact, he felt his hand being moved steadily to the table.

“Whoa! Impressive, Akira!” Makoto commended as Akira continued bringing Ryuji down almost with a bored look on his face. Morgana saw how it was going and decided to help Ryuji by pushing against Akira’s hand. However, Akira didn’t slow down as he calmly continued bringing Ryuji and Morgana to the table.

“The hell is this?” Ryuji grit his teeth, pushing with everything he had as he felt Akira grip become even tighter around his hand. 

The wrestle ended within a minute, Akira calmly bringing the struggling Ryuji to the table despite Morgana and even Yusuke helping him. Everyone stared at the two as Ryuji panted from the amount of energy he spent.

“Damn Ak-Akira,” Ryuji stammered, taking long breaths in between words. “You-you warned me, but did you have to do that to me?!”

“Yeah, that was intense!” Futaba exclaimed. “If Ryuji was the final boss, Akira was the secret boss during a new game plus run! He even had Mona and Inari helping him too!”

“Did you forget that I have a god inside me, Ryuji?” Akira asked as his friend sat back into the booth seat.

“Dammit, that’s cheating Akira…” Ryuji complained, but a grin quickly formed on his face. “Even then, I feel like I would’ve lost if you were holding back. I’m exhausted.” Ryuji rested his upper body on the table while the rest of the thieves burst into laughter. 

The group continued talking until Ryuji pulled out his phone; it was 11:30 pm. “Shit, we gotta go now! Akira, we’ll catch you later man!” Ryuji yelled as he grabbed his bag and sprinted out the door. The rest of the Thieves followed suit, Futaba deciding it best to head home as well. The only ones remaining in the nearly empty Leblanc was Akira, Morgana, and Sumire. Akira was washing the dishes when he noticed Sumire had a far off look in her eyes. He dried his hands off and walked in front of her; her facial expression didn’t even shift.

“Sumire, aren’t you going to miss the last train?” Akira asked, tilting his head to one side. Sumire didn’t respond, simply staring at the wooden bar in front of her. Akira sighed and leaned onto the bar in front of her until their faces were practically touching.

“Sumi, you there?” Akira asked again, a slight amount of concern in his voice.

“Y-yes!” Sumire yelped as she shot up, breaking out of her daydream. Akira chuckled as he saw her blush slightly.

“The last train is about to come, so you should hurry,” Akira informed her. However, Sumire looked up at Akira, her blush deepening.

“A-actually, um, I-I texted my fa-father earlier, and as-asked him if I could s-st-st-” Sumire stammered, unable to finish the thought as her face went bright red.

Akira moved backwards, allowing Sumire some space as a grin covered his face.

“Stuh?” Akira wondered aloud.

“I asked him if I could stay with you for the night and he said yes!” Sumire burst out. Akira raised an eyebrow and gave her a “Joker-esque” grin, causing her entire face to burn a deeper shade of red.

“O-only if it’s okay with you, I mean…” she trailed off, looking away from Akira. Leaning forward on the counter, Akira led Sumire’s face to his with his hand.

“Of course I’m okay with it!” he exclaimed, before giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

“Thank you, Senpai!” Sumire looked at Akira excitedly, quickly returning his kiss with one of her own. Akira tilted his head to one side as he leaned back into his normal stance, his heart beating faster.

“Do you have a change of clothes?” Akira was expecting embarrassment from Sumire, but instead she continued to give him a giant smile.

“Not on me, but my dad said that he would drop them off when I was ready!” Sumire beamed at Akira, who failed to mask his surprise. He quickly fixed himself, smiling again at his still radiant girlfriend.

“Is he dropping them off here?”

Sumire nodded, pulling out her phone to check the time. “Mhm, he should be here any minute n- Oh, perfect timing!” She cut herself short as her phone buzzed, signifying that she received a text. “He parked along the street, I’ll be right back,” Sumire said as she got up from her seat, walking to the door.

“I’ll come with you,” Akira met her at the door, clasping his hands around hers. Sumire simply nodded as the two walked over to where Shinichi's car was parked. Upon seeing the two approach, the man got out of his car with a plain grocery bag in hand.

“Sumire! And… Kurusu-kun, correct?” Shinichi looked over at Akira, smiling as he noticed the two were holding hands.

“Correct, Mr. Yoshizawa,” Akira replied, giving the man a warm smile. Shinichi brought his hand with the bag forward towards Sumire. Sumire grabbed the bag with both hands as she gave her father a genuine smile.

“Here’s your change of clothes, Sumire. If you need anything else for the night, just let me know, okay?” Akira noticed a slight amount of concern in Shinichi’s voice, and instantly knew what he was going to say when he turned to him.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Yoshizawa. I understand your worries, but I give you my word that we won’t do anything you wouldn’t.” 

“Huh? How did yo–?” Shinichi began, with him and Sumire giving Akira a shocked look. Shinichi shook his head and stared into Akira’s eyes; he could tell the boy was being honest.

“You’re quite sharp, Kurusu-kun,” Shinichi chuckled, looking at the two together; seeing his daughter so happy with Akira was amazing, but he also saw how much Akira loved his daughter back just through the look in his eyes. “Oh, and please call me Shinichi. You’ve done so much for my daughter, it’s the least I could do,” he added, stretching out his hand towards the teen.

“Only if you call me Akira,” Akira grasped the older man’s hand, half-expecting time to freeze around him. However, nothing happened as he smiled inwardly; his time as the Trickster was over, and he was simply Akira Kurusu now.

“It’s a deal!” Shinichi let go of Akira’s hand after a few seconds. “Well, you two should be off. I’ve got to head home as well or her mother will be upset with me. Goodnight, Sumire, Akira!” With the final words, the three separated, with Akira and Sumire heading back to Leblanc as Shinichi climbed back into his car, fully at peace knowing that Akira was looking over his daughter.

As the two entered into the darkened Leblanc, Akira looked down at Sumire at his side.

“I’ll wait down here for you to change,” he offered.

“Thank you, Senpai! I won’t be long,” Sumire hurried upstairs to change, leaving Akira alone with his thoughts. Well, not quite alone as Morgana stretched out his paws, letting out a big yawn.

“You look sleepy there, Morgana,” Akira grinned as the cat rubbed his face, trying in vain to shake off his sleepiness.

“Y-yeah. I  _ yawn _ I heard that Sumire was staying the night,” Morgana yawned, looking over at Akira. Akira nodded, still smiling. Morgana sighed as he got up onto his feet and jumped off the table. “Well, I know when to take my leave, and now is the time. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t, Akira!” 

Akira let out a small chuckle as Morgana walked past him. “Don’t have to tell me twice, chief. Here, I’ll let Futaba know that you’re heading her way,” Akira pulled out his phone and sent Futaba a text.

_ Hey, hope it’s not too big a deal, but Morgana is heading your way for the night. _

_ I heard, and np. I’ll take goooood care of him. _

Akira smiled at his phone before putting it away, watching as Morgana’s face showed that he knew his fate was sealed.

“Have fuun!” Akira poked fun at his feline companion as the door closed. He let out another chuckle, sitting down at the empty bar while waiting for Sumire to be done. Akira allowed his mind to wander.

All his nightmares…

His friends seemingly accepting him as someone he wasn’t…

The final fight against YHWH...

“It’s… actually over…” Akira whispered. It didn’t feel real, that it was actually over. Relieved tears began slowly trickling down his face as he kept staring forward, his mouth slightly open as his breathing was slow and steady.

“Senpai?” Sumire’s voice broke him out of his thoughts as he slowly turned his head to look at her, now in a plain baggy pink shirt along with pink sweatpants with red hearts on them. She rushed towards Akira as she saw his face and the tears flowing freely. “Akira, you’re crying! Are you okay?” Her voice was full of concern as she held his shoulders tightly, staring into his eyes. Akira stayed silent as he stared into her eyes;  _ everything _ was over. No more fear of being controlled, no more fighting.

Akira suddenly pulled her into a hug as more tears fell from his face, a smile crossing his face. “I couldn’t be better,” Akira said as he continued holding onto Sumire. Letting the shock fall from her face, Sumire put her arms around Akira, hugging him back. “Sumire… it’s all over,” Akira continued, his voice shaking as he let all his emotions out. 

‘This… This is everything Senpai was holding back all this time…’ Sumire thought, her own tears beginning to fall gently from her face. “Senpai… I’m… I’m so happy… for you… for all of us…”

Akira pulled back from the hug and looked down at Sumire, radiant smiles on both of their faces. “How in the world did I get so lucky? Not only do I have the best friends in the world, but I have the greatest girlfriend ever,” Akira said past his still running tears, putting his right hand to his eyes and trying to wipe away his tears as more formed right after. 

“After fighting for so long, risking my life so many times, attempting to reach this point… it just doesn’t feel real.” As Akira finished, Sumire brought her hand up to Akira’s face and wiped tears from his eyes.

“But it is,” was all she could whisper. Akira eyes widened as he stared at her, before his smile grew even larger.

“You’re right!” Akira exclaimed, the tears finally slowing down. “You’re absolutely right.” The two stood there, staring at each other for a long time as the tears subsided. They were safe with each other, comfortable in each other's presence. To their surprise, they both let out a long yawn. They stared at each other in surprise before bursting into laughter.

“Here, let’s go upstairs.” Akira led Sumire by the hand into the attic, where his bed was still messed up from earlier. Akira put his hand up to his chin; his bed was small. They would definitely be in close proximity if they shared, and he didn’t want Sumire to be overwhelmed.

“Here, you can sleep on the bed,” Akira smiled as he flattened out the messy sheets.

“But what about you, Senpai?” Sumire objected. Akira pointed over to his couch with a small smile.

“I’ll manage with that.” 

Sumire’s gaze dropped as she muttered something that Akira couldn’t catch. Her face turned slightly red as well, allowing Akira to guess what she had said. However, he couldn’t help but tease her, so he slowly walked forward to her and leaned down to her face.

“What was that, sweetie?” 

Sumire’s blush deepened as she spoke loud enough for Akira to hear her. “I want us to share the same bed!”

Akira smiled as he straightened his back, Sumire calming down her beating heart as she lifted her head, averting her gaze from Akira. “It’s gonna be cramped, just warning you now,” Akira said with a playful grin.

“That’s fine,” Sumire, still embarrassed, said towards the wall.

“You know, now that I think about it, there’s something that I have to show you. And no, I’m not talking about ‘that’,” Akira added as Sumire’s face lit bright red, eyes widening in panic as she opened her mouth to protest. Upon hearing the last part, her face shifted into confusion.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Here, I need to get changed downstairs, then I’ll show you. Make yourself comfortable in the bed,” Akira grabbed his night clothes as he went downstairs, giving Sumire no time to object. Within himself he felt YHWH, but also something else: his palace had reformed. He quickly changed into his night clothes, fairly similar to Sumire’s except all grey, and calmly walked back upstairs to find Sumire sitting on his bed. She smiled nervously at him as he approached, a smile of his own finding its way onto his face as he sat down next to her. Akira took her hand as he stared into her eyes, nothing but love being communicated between the two.

“You said there was something you wanted to show me?” Sumire sweetly asked her beloved. Akira nodded, looking down at the bed.

“Yeah, but first we should lie down,” Akira said, Sumire’s face scrunching up in confusion. “Just trust me, it’s something amazing.” Sumire slowly nodded as she pulled back the blanket Sojiro gave Akira and laid down near the wall. Akira followed suit, having to snuggle close to her due to the size of the bed. Sumire pulled the blanket over them, avoiding Akira’s eyes as she still wasn’t used to being this close to him, her face burning as she could feel Akira’s heartbeat from how close they were. She gasped as she felt his hand gently guide her face to his own; he was smiling sweetly at her, a comfort that instantly calmed her down and made her heart race at the same time.

“Here, take my hand,” Akira whispered, taking his hand off Sumire’s face and bringing it underneath the blanket next to Sumire’s. 

“O-okay…” Sumire stuttered as her fingers hesitantly traced Akira’s hand until fully locking with his. Akira closed his eyes, and Sumire felt a warm sensation run throughout her entire body as her eyelids fell too. Within mere seconds the couple were in a deep sleep together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another long chapter! I don't know how I keep doing this, but sometimes I just can't stop until writing and end up with these long chapters. I have a feeling that you guys don't mind and I won't even try and anticipate the upcoming chapter lengths.  
> Anyways, I think this chapter has been my personal favorite(besides 10 for obvious reasons) because of writing wholesome Sumire x Akira, which will continue with upcoming chapters.
> 
> I'd like to plug two fics from writers on the Church of Kasumi discord:  
> Unyielding Faith by chair2  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/24763723/chapters/59875639
> 
> Fool's protection by DigitalKing21  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/24422587/chapters/58920343


	12. Chapter 12

“Huh?!” Sumire exclaimed, her eyes shooting open. She was no longer laying down in Akira’s futon as she felt soft grass underneath her. Looking up into the sky, she realized that Akira wasn’t next to her. “Akira!” She yelled, shooting up into a sitting position as her eyes frantically searched the area around her. She searched until she saw Akira standing not too far away from her, staring up at the sky. He had his back turned on her, unaware that she was now awake and seemingly didn’t hear her. Sumire got to her feet as she moved towards Akira, her eyes wandering to her surroundings around her. She was surrounded by bright green grass with a well kept stone path near where Akira was standing. When she woke up there was a large tree casting shade overhead, so as she stepped out she had to cover her eyes with her hand due to the sun shining high in the sky.

Sumire was completely stunned as her eyes adjusted to the light, a light gasp coming from her lips as she stared out at a beautiful garden as far as she could see. Akira was close enough to hear her gasp and he turned around; Sumire’s heart nearly stopped at the sight of him. He was dressed in an immaculately made black tuxedo with a bright red shirt underneath along with a blue and black tie. His black dress pants were silty smooth, no wrinkles could be seen as Sumire’s gaze bounced from his black shoes back up to Akira’s face. Instead of his normally messy hair, it was slicked back with the sunshine reflecting off his thick black hair.

“What, are you just going to stand there and stare at me?” Akira lightly teased at the stunned Sumire, a light blush on his face as his eyes ran up and down her body. “I’ll have you know, you’re looking absolutely gorgeous right now.”

“What do you mean by that?” Sumire asked, gasping as she looked down to see herself wearing a flowing white dress that went to her ankles. On her feet she was wearing beautiful light blue slippers that perfectly fit her feet. The dress was elegant with amazing designs etched into it, making Sumire blush even more from wearing something so beautiful. She then looked up as Akira walked towards her, his smile growing even bigger with every step until he was right in front of her.

“Why are we wearing this Senpai?” Sumire didn’t mean to whisper, but Akira was so close to her and she didn’t want to raise her voice. “And where are we?” She added, looking around at the beautiful garden around her before landing on large marble statues. Akira reached over for her hand, making her return her gaze to him. 

“Because, my love,” Akira said as he gripped her hand tightly, Sumire shivering slightly from Akira’s smooth voice. “This is my heart.” Akira led Sumire onto the path behind them, not an imperfection underneath their feet.

“Your… heart?” Sumire breathed out, not believing that the beautiful landscape was once the hellscape only a few hours earlier. Akira looked over at his beloved and nodded his head, his sweet smile melting her heart no matter how many times she saw it. Sumire was at a loss for words as the two continued to walk along the path until Akira stopped and took a step onto the grass next to the path. Allowing herself to be led, Sumire stood next to him as Akira pointed upwards. Sumire’s gaze followed his finger as she let out another gasp; it was the moon that held YHWH imprisoned.

“Don’t worry, Sumire,” Akira gently reassured his girlfriend. “There’s nothing he can do to us anymore; he’ll be here forever,” Akira finished, determination seeping into his words. Sumire’s heart fluttered as she stared at his defined face, his grey eyes glowing from the sunshine. ‘He’s everything I thought a prince would be and more,’ Sumire thought to herself, shaking her head free of the thought before Akira brought his gaze back to her.

“Is this all you wanted to show me, Akira?” Sumire asked, her and Akira walking back onto the path. Akira shook his head at her, his smile growing wider as he felt Raoul stir within himself.

‘Not yet, Raoul,’ Akira whispered within his mind, Raoul simply nodding his head as Sumire stared curiously at Akira.

“You were wondering about our clothes earlier, weren’t you Sumi?” Akira squeezed her hand to make sure she was still with him. He was rewarded with her radiant smile as she nodded at him, his heart being stolen yet again with that simple action. “Well, it’s simple. I plan to marry you one day, and my cognition of us is clearly what I think we’ll look like on our wedding day. Our Thieves clothes only appeared when we were considered a threat to the palace ruler, but you know what I consider us?” Akira asked, looking over only to see Sumire bright red.

“M-m-ma-ma-ma-mar-” Sumire cutely stuttered, Akira internally sighed; ‘I broke her again. But she’s so cute right now,’ he thought to himself as he continued on.

“I see us together forever; that’s why we’re dressed like this,” Akira whispered into Sumire’s ear, her entire face growing a deeper shade of red as her legs nearly gave out. Akira wrapped his hands around her to make sure she wouldn’t faint and in an attempt to calm her down. He could feel just how fast her heart was beating and the heat coming from her red face. “On top of the fact that I have full control over my cognition so I can control the appearances of anything and anyone in here,” Akira rambled on. Sumire began to calm down and slightly giggle at Akira’s ramblings. Akira looked down at her, confusion on his face as she continued to giggle.

“I-I never realized how big of a dork you could be, Akira!” Sumire lightly exclaimed, her face still pink from earlier. Akira looked down at the redhead and clutched his chest in faux dismay.

“You’re words, Sumire! They wound me so!” Akira uttered, pausing as he looked into the air before the two broke into giggles. After a few seconds of a giggling fit in each other's arms, Akira moved away, his hand still locked with Sumire’s. They began walking again, Akira’s promise to marry her still running in Sumire’s mind.

“Hey Senpai, did you… mean what you… said… earlier?” Sumire began strong, but as Akira turned his face towards hers she looked down and her voice lowered into a mutter. Smiling at her, Akira squeezed Sumire’s hand; he knew what she meant, and didn’t want to cause her anymore embarrassment.

“Of course I meant it, Sumi,” Akira said, his voice as soft as he could have possibly made it. Sumire looked up at Akira and just then realized the tears in her eyes when she could only see a blurb of color in front of her. Akira leaned towards her and, in one swift move, wiped away her tears and kissed her on the lips. Sumire couldn’t do anything besides melt in the kiss, her look of surprise quickly disappearing into contentment. To her disappointment Akira broke from the kiss, a smile forming on his face as he saw the pout on Sumire’s face. “I want us to live together one day, to have children together and grow old; that’s my wish with you,” Akira said, his voice ringing around in Sumire’s head as she began to get flustered again.

‘No, stay strong Sumire!’ she admonished herself, taking a deep breath in so she could see straight. Her heart was still beating wildly from Akira’s words, but she was able to look him in the eyes without feeling like she was about to faint. Despite the state she was in, she stood on her toes and pecked Akira on the lips before pulling back. 

“I-I want the same thing… Akira…” Sumire trailed off, Akira’s name barely reaching the boy in question’s ears. Akira drew in a sharp intake of breath as he heard Sumire call him by his name; it was something she rarely did without any honorifics, and he couldn’t stop himself from blushing from it.

“H-hey Sumire… could you call me that again?” Akira sheepishly asked, Sumire tilting her head to the side.

“What, Akira-senpai?” Sumire innocently asked, Akira’s heart pounding even more from the rare case of embarrassment he was feeling.

“No, I just want you to say my name. No senpai attached to it,” Akira pleaded, staring into Sumire’s eyes as he felt his legs shake. 

‘ _Hmph, it seems she has stolen your heart completely Akira,”_ Raoul chuckled deep within Akira’s soul.

‘Ah shut it,’ Akira shot back at his inner self, but he knew his persona was right; his heart was Sumire’s and Sumire’s alone.

‘ _No matter; I believe that love is something to be cherished,”_ Raoul echoed again. Akira smiled inward when he remembered the question he asked Sumire and returned his full attention to her. 

“Just your name?” Sumire hesitantly asked; seeing Akira blush was something that NEVER happened, and it only made her feel even more nervous. Akira looked expectantly at her, almost pleadingly as her heart began speeding up once again. ‘God, it’s just one word Sumire! Get it together!’ Sumire yelled at herself as she took a deep breath in, closing her eyes to calm herself down. She then opened them back up to see Akira still staring at her. “A-Ak…” Sumire tried to get out, her own tongue betraying her as she stuttered. “I love you, Akira!” She yelled out, her heart beating out of her chest. 

Akira could barely breathe; hearing his voice come from the one he loved more than the world itself shook him to his very core. Akira’s heart could have stopped then and there and he would die a happy man. He stood there in shock from four simple words, unblinking before coming back to his senses. He breathed in and out, letting a small chuckle out as he reigned in his out of control emotions.

“I just wanted my name, Sumire,” Akira lightly teased the girl, quickly moving on as he saw the shock on her face; he didn’t want her to shut down again. “Let’s keep going; the other thing I want you to see is up ahead.” Sumire nodded, hand on her chest in an attempt to slow it down. Unbeknownst to her, Akira’s heart was beating just as fast; he was just better at hiding it. 

Not much time passed before Akira and Sumire were in front of the giant marble sculptures Sumire had noticed before and she could finally see what they were of: they were all of the Phantom Thieves in their final pose after an all attack. “Wow…” was all she could say as Akira led her onto the marble platform the statues were on. They began with Morgana sitting smugly on his chair with his cigar and moved from thief to thief; from Ryuji with his hand out in a rock gesture, Ann having her hand up to her face and winking, Yusuke eccentrically having his arm in front of him, Makoto with her back turned and her face looking behind her, Futaba rocketing forwards with her tongue out, Haru sitting gracefully while drinking coffee, and Akechi with his hand on his head, a chaotic look in his eyes. Sumire frowned slightly; they had completed the circle, but her’s and Akira’s weren’t anywhere to be seen.

“Senpai, where’s ours?” Sumire asked, a grin flashing on Akira’s face as he silently led her down the stairs after Akechi’s pose. That’s when she saw it; a giant marble statue not far from the main platform surrounded by violets. “Akira, is this because…” Sumire trailed off, her mind going blank from the sheer beauty of the statue in front of her. It was of her and Akira after their showtime, where they held their last pose before continuing combat. Every detail was spot on, and she was completely entranced on how handsome Akira looked.

“Yeah, it's clear that my cognition is that I hold everyone up on pedestals, but I see myself always by your side,” Akira responded, holding his voice steady as he reached over towards Sumire’s waist, pulling her in close to him yet again. Sumire didn’t resist, letting herself melt in his grasp as they stared at their monument in front of them.

“Akira, do you want to sit down somewhere?” Sumire asked, the sun beginning to set along the horizon. Akira closed his eyes in thought, Sumire looking up at him as he shook his head. 

“Nah, I have another idea,” Akira said with a smirk, Raoul staring intently at him from within.

‘ _Is it finally time, Akira?’_ Raoul questioned, eagerness clear in his voice. 

‘Indeed it is time, Raoul!’ Akira exclaimed within himself, Sumire looking at him in confusion as he let go of her and took a step back. Energy coursed through his body as red flames burst from nothing around him, engulfing him completely. Sumire simply watched in awe as the flames grew bigger and bigger; she knew by now that Akira was fine. Then, as soon as the flames appeared, they dispersed, revealing Raoul where Akira once stood only the size of a normal persona. The persona-human fusion looked down at Sumire with the same sweet smile Akira gave her, only slightly more demonic due to the nature of his eyes pulsing with red energy. 

“Are you ready, my sweet?” Raoul offered Sumire his hand, floating just above the ground. Sumire didn’t quite know how to feel; taking the hand of anyone other than Akira made her uneasy, but then she realized that this WAS Akira and reached up towards Raoul’s hand. With grace Raoul lifted her up and onto his back, an “eep” coming from the girl as she readily clutched onto Akira. She wasn’t afraid of heights(she loved them actually) but the sudden action made her heart rate skyrocket. Realization hit her finally as Raoul began rising in the air, and Sumire couldn’t help herself as a large smile crawled onto her face as she saw more and more of the garden below them.

“It’s… beautiful…” Sumire breathed out, taken aback by the seemingly infinite amount of flowers spanning all around her with grass, trees, and the stone path snaking through it.

“Not as beautiful as you,” Raoul softly said, Akira’s voice cutting through his persona’s as Sumire felt her cheeks burn red again. As Raoul felt her bury her head in his back he let out a small laugh.

“Let’s go!” Raoul suddenly said, cutting off his own laugh as he began flying forward. Sumire’s embarrassment left her instantly as she looked back up, the wind blowing her hair back as she stared out at the rolling land beneath her, the garden ending as they were above fields of green grass and tall trees sprinkled here and there, their leaves casting large shadows over the rolling landscape.

“This… is like something out of a fantasy story…” Sumire muttered, her voice getting caught in the wind as she was completely awestruck from the sight around her. “Ah!” Sumire let out, her glasses almost flying off her face as she put her right hand up to hold them there.

“Here, let me help,” Raoul shouted back, his eyes flashing green as he controlled some wind to hold Sumire’s glasses firm on her face.

“Thanks, Akira!” Sumire shouted back up, hugging the persona-human tightly with all the affection she would show Akira. She couldn’t see it, but personas could show embarrassment as Raoul had a slight blush on his face. Raoul’s face then broke into a full grin; time to fly!

“Hold on tight!” Raoul warned, feeling Sumire’s grip doing just that as he shot forward. Sumire’s eyes shot open in surprise from the increase of speed, but she was having fun as she laughed in glee. Upon hearing the laugh, Raoul angled himself upwards until he was going straight up. Sumire shrieked in surprise as her legs dangled off of Raoul, the sudden fear quickly turning back into excitement as she knew she was safe with Akira. 

“It’s Showtime!” Raoul shouted out as he somehow glided through the air even faster, the ground below the two growing more and more distant until the persona-human stopped their ascent. Sumire felt her body slow until she didn’t feel any force pulling on her, hanging in the air before Raoul fell backwards. 

“It’s like a rollercoaster!” Sumire squealed happily as Raoul fell back to the earth, the wind avoiding her eyes through Raoul’s wind magic. Sumire’s eyes were wide open as the ground grew closer and closer and let out an excited shriek. Just as Raoul was about to hit the ground, he pulled himself up, now flying horizontally above the ground. Raoul tucked in his right wind and tilted his body, allowing Sumire to run her hands through the soft grass.

“Sumire, the finale is upon us!” Raoul shouted, channeling his inner Yusuke as he returned to being completely horizontal with the ground, his right wing unfurling as he reached max speed. Sumire didn’t have time to fully prepare herself as she quickly put her right arm back around Raoul, the persona-human making a ninety degree turn straight into the air again. “I want you to let go of me at my signal! Is that okay, Sumi?” Raoul questioned as they shot higher and higher into the air.

“Yes!” Sumire shouted, her affirmation barely reached Raoul as they were reaching the height he had in mind.

“Now!” Raoul commanded, Sumire letting go immediately. Her body continued to rise for half a second until stopping. Then, as Raoul continued to climb into the air, Sumire plummeted back towards the ground. Sumire got her body into an Arch position, feeling the wind against her body as she freely fell was so exhilarating. Her body was completely relaxed as she fell, feeling nothing but joy with her mouth curled up in a full smile.

Raoul continued his ascent for a second longer, calculating how long he needed to wait until he made another ninety degree turn, flying away from Sumire. His eyes were wide open, a full grin on his face as he steadily positioned his body downwards, making a semicircle in the sky before shooting towards Sumire. The redhead was nearing the ground, still no fear in her body as she saw Raoul rocketing towards her. Around 50 feet away from the ground was when Raoul extended his arms, catching Sumire and holding her in a bridal carry as he stayed close to the ground. Sumire was beaming up at the persona-human as they continued to fly, steadily slowing down until coming to a stop near a giant tree. 

Raoul let Sumire down onto the ground as he also touched down, the same red flames engulfing him completely until Akira was left standing. Sumire ran up to her boyfriend, eyes full of excitement similar to a wound up puppy.

“Senpai, that was amazing! I had so, so much fun!” Sumire joyfully bounced in front of Akira. The black haired teen let out a long exhalation as his body slowly relaxed, Sumire looking excitedly up at him. 

“I had a lot of fun as well, Sumi,” Akira said, a slight amount of exhaustion in his voice. Sumire’s excitement died down as she caught the exhaustion in his voice, suddenly turning into concern.

“Akira-senpai, are you okay?” Sumire asked, Akira nodding in response as he took a final deep breath in before releasing it.

“Yeah; turns out fusing with Raoul takes a lot out of me, especially when the world isn’t in danger,” Akira joked, a wave of relief flushing throughout his body as Sumire giggled. 

“Well, after what happened today hopefully it won’t need you to save it anymore,” Sumire said playfully as Akira took her hand and led her to the trunk of the tree. The two sat down at the base of the tree and stared out at the horizon; the sun was setting, casting a beautiful orange glow over the rolling fields of grass around them. “It’s beautiful…” Sumire whispered, small teardrops forming in her eyes from the absolutely stunning view in front of them. “So this is Akira’s heart…”

Akira smiled at her, focusing more on her face than anything around him. He wrapped his arm around Sumire’s shoulder and pulled her towards him. “It’s all thanks to you that it's like this,”Akira whispered in her ear, sending shivers throughout Sumire’s body. She looked up at him and shyly smiled, a light blush on her cheeks. Then without warning she put her head on his shoulder, eyes happily closing as she felt the warmth from his body.

“I’m so glad I met you, Akira,” Sumire said, perfectly content as Akira held her close. 

“Words can’t describe the amount of joy I feel, Sumire,” Akira responded, feeling Sumire’s eyes on him as he stared at the sunset. “When I first met you I knew that I was in love. It didn’t matter to me that you believed you were Kasumi; I knew that I loved you. That’s why I fought so hard for so long, especially after you became yourself again; I was fighting for my future with you,” Akira finished, a single tear rolling slowly down his face. 

“Akira…” Sumire breathed out, her heart beating slightly faster as she took his hand. “That’s why I fought too; just seeing you like this means everything was worth it for me.” Sumire looked back out at the sunset, eyelids beginning to droop.

“What do you mean by “like this”?” Akira asked innocently, moving his head to look down at her. 

“You were so focused on saving others that you never noticed, huh?” Sumire teased, laying her head on his shoulder again. “You’re so selfless, always thinking about saving and helping others that you forget to simply live for yourself. I want you to promise something to me, Akira.” 

“What is it, Sumi?” Akira asked, failing to mask the surprise in his voice from Sumire teasing him.

“I want you to promise me before I ask it; that way I can hold you to it no matter what,” Sumire breathed out, her voice barely reaching a whisper. 

“Alright, I promise!” Akira lightly exclaimed, not even hesitating for a second. Sumire giggled as she continued to look out in front of her; two doves were flying in the distance together above the trees.

“I want you to be more selfish. You’ve only been helping others since you got here; I love that selflessness, but I want you to take a break. At least for a little while…” Sumire ended, hugging Akira’s body tighter. 

“I already promised it, so I guess I don’t have a choice in the matter,” Akira said with a slight grin; it sounded nice to worry about himself for a change. “But I’ll say it again: I promise that I’ll be more selfish, especially for you.”

Sumire’s face went beat red as she tried to escape Akira’s grasp, but he held her close. “Se-senpai! I never sa-said that last part!” Sumire exclaimed as she frantically tried to get away from Akira, her heart pounding faster and faster. When she realized he wasn’t going to let go, she instead buried her head in his chest. For some reason, doing so made her calm down. “But, I’m happy that you promised me that,” Sumire said, looking up from Akira’s chest into his eyes. 

“Urgh, will you two stop that already?!”

“Sumire, you have a boyfriend?” Two familiar voices rang out in front of Akira and Sumire, causing Sumire to yelp in panic as Akira grinned up at the two figures walking towards them: Akechi and Kasumi.

“Kasumi!? What are you doing here?” Sumire yelled out in surprise, getting up and running towards her twin. 

“You said that she lives on inside you, right?” Akira said, grinning over at Akechi as his rival did the same. “When you told me that, I thought of doing this.” Sumire looked back at Akira, shock on her face. 

“How are you making this happen? Are they cognitions?” Sumire questioned, returning her attention to her sister in front of her. Akira shook his head as he approached Akechi, staring directly into the brown haired detective’s eyes.

“Nope; because your subconscious and mine are linked right now, I was able to pull them both from the deepest parts of ourselves,” Akira said, confusion clear even on Akechi and Kasumi’s faces. “Yeah, I’m not entirely sure how it works either, but these are the real deal, Sumire.” As Akira finished, Sumire pulled Kasumi in and squeezed her tightly, tears flowing down her cheeks. Akira smiled softly at his girlfriend before returning his attention to Akechi in front of him and lightly punched his shoulder.

“Thanks for earlier, Akechi,” Akira said. Akechi smirked at his rival, punching his shoulder harder in response. Akira didn’t wince despite the pain as he held eye contact.

“I’m just glad you shut that damn god up,” Akechi growled as he stared up at the moon in the sky. Just as Akira was about to respond, Kasumi was dragging an embarrassed Sumire over to the two rivals.

“You’re even wearing fancy clothes! You’re so cute together!” Kasumi happily exclaimed, her sister’s blush growing deeper. Kasumi suddenly stopped for a second as she looked closely at Sumire’s and Akira’s clothing before gasping. “Wait, this looks like a wedding gown! Sumire, you’re getting mar-” Kasumi shouted before Sumire covered her sister’s lips with her hand, her face burning with embarrassment. Akira smiled at the two, thankful that he wasn’t blushing.

“So Akira. Are you getting married?” Akechi shot at his rival; apparently he was blushing, or if he wasn’t he was now. Kasumi escaped her sister’s grasp and bounced over towards Akira, getting right in his face as she inspected his face.

“Wow Sumire, you picked a good one here! He’s really muscular and good looking; make sure you take good care of Sumi for me!” Kasumi rapidly said. Akira’s mind spun in circles before he forced himself to calm down and wore his classic Joker grin.

“Of course! I’ll make her the happiest girl ever,” Akira said, his grin widening as he saw the look of betrayal on Sumire’s face.

“Se-Senpai!” Sumire shouted. Akira threw his head back and laughed while Kasumi stared in awe at him.

“Sumire, you’re dating someone older? I’m shocked! Was he the one to ask you out?” Kasumi, again, shot the questions out in rapid succession. 

“She actually asked me out first,” Akira said. He saw that Sumire was having trouble keeping up with Kasumi, so he decided to give her a break. “Although, I do remember her shutting me down a few times…” Akira wistfully said, staring off in the distance.

“What? Did I?” Sumire questioned Akira, her embarrassment disappearing as she stared at Akira. Akechi simply sighed as he watched the three.

“Yeah; when I said I was in love when you wore that dress you picked out, I meant you, Sumire. But she brushed me away, making me wait even longer!” Akira playfully groaned, fake dismay on his face.

“Is that true Sumire?” Kasumi prodded her sister.

“N-no!” Sumire shouted out before her face scrunched up. “Wait, you actually meant me when you said that Akira?” Akira looked at his girlfriend; it was clear she actually thought that he meant the dress. Akira simply chuckled at his stunned girlfriend who pouted at the action. 

Kasumi, after drilling into Akira’s head everything about Sumire, took her sister aside to talk, leaving Akira alone with Akechi. Turning towards the brown haired teen, Akira heard a “tsk” from Akechi before he turned his face away.

“What, are you going to thank me again? Don’t bother; I was just doing what I wanted to do,” Akechi said. 

“Nah, that’s not it,” Akira shook his head, causing Akechi to look at him, curiosity in his eyes. “When we fight, let's keep doing our showtime. Not that I plan to fight much more, but I get the feeling that I will in the future.” Akechi’s face turned into a wicked smile at Akira’s words, the younger teen matching the face as he extended his hand.

“As long as I can let loose, I’m fine with it,” Akechi responded, gripping Akira’s hand as they stared into each other’s eyes. After a second of holding the handshake, they let go, still grinning at each other as the two twins approached them.

“Akira-senpai?” Sumire hesitantly muttered. Akira realized he still had the scary grin on his face which he quickly replaced with a sweet smile, Akechi smirking at him as he took a step away.

“It’s all good, Sumire,” Akira reassured his girlfriend, who nodded and smiled at him in response. “Hey, I think it’s time we wake up, Sumire.” The sun was halfway below the horizon, and it was beginning to get darker. As he said it Sumire let out a big yawn, to which her sister smiled at her. Sumire stared sadly at her sister; she didn’t want to say goodbye again as she felt tears welling up. Kasumi walked up to her and wrapped her arms around her twin, Sumire bringing her idle hands around her sister as well.

“It’s alright, Sumi,” Kasumi softly spoke into the redhead’s ear before pulling her back, staring into watery red orbs. “You know why? Because I’ll be right here,” Kasumi pointed at Sumire’s chest. “Forever and always. I love you, Sumire.” The two stood there for a second, staring at each as Akira and Akechi met each other’s eyes.

“This ain’t goodbye; we both know that, so you better not get sappy with me,” Akechi snarled at Akira. The former phantom thief leader smirked at his rival and nodded, the brown haired teen returning the gesture.

“See ya later, Akechi,” Akira said as the two bumped fists. Akechi and Kasumi began to glow bright white until they were fully surrounded by light. The couple stared as the two lights dimmed down until disappearing entirely, Akechi and Kasumi nowhere to be seen. “C’mon, let’s go sit down Sumi,” Akira motioned back towards the tree, unaware of the tears forming in his eyes.

“Akira… are you okay?” Sumire asked as she walked next to him, the two sitting back underneath the tree. Sighing, Akira nodded his head.

“Yeah, I am. It’s just… I’m gonna miss him, even if he’s a part of me,” Akira said. He then felt Sumire’s arm link with his, his eyes meeting her own as the sun set in the distance.

“Me too, but that’s why we have each other, right?” Sumire whispered sweetly. Akira nodded, letting out a yawn as his eyes drooped down.

“That’s right… but let’s go to sleep for now,” Akira responded, Sumire letting out a cute yawn right next to him as she put her head on his shoulder. 

“Thank you, Akira. For this wonderful night,” Sumire whispered as their eyes began to close.

“Anything for you, Sumi,” Akira whispered back, his eyes shutting along with Sumire’s as the happy couple fell asleep in one another’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back at it again, only with a much shorter chapter than the last two(even though 5k words isn't short by any means). I'm having a blast writing these wholesome moments with Sumire and Akira along with making Akira a much happier boy, and so it's gonna continue on for a little while longer. We still have Christmas and New Years ahead, so be prepared for those! 
> 
> Here's the chapterly plugging of other fics I like!
> 
> Renegade by Light_Sumire:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/24782095/chapters/59926366
> 
> Unyielding Faith by chair2:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/24763723/chapters/59875639


	13. Chapter 13

As Sumire's eyes opened, she felt the warmth of Akira’s blanket draped over her along with the small bed underneath her. She realized that Akira was still asleep as she regained her bearings and she smiled; their hands were still interlocked under the blanket. Akira’s chest moved up and down slowly, his mouth curled up in a semi-smile. ‘He’s so cute when he sleeps,’ Sumire thought to herself, not daring to move in order to not disturb her sleeping partner. Quiet snores came from Akira as Sumire continued to watch him; she learned that he was a fairly heavy sleeper and would shift his body in his sleep, but his hand never moved away from her own. Taking a breath in, she risked brushing a strand of hair covering his eyes to the side. As her free hand passed by Akira’s eyes, she felt the grip on her hand underneath the blanket tighten and Akira get closer to her.

Before she knew it, Sumire’s lips were locked with Akira’s. His grey eyes were looking into her shocked red before she melted into the kiss; apparently she wasn’t careful enough. Akira pulled back with a sweet smile as he saw the pink tint on Sumire’s cheeks. “Good morning, beautiful,” he whispered, the blush on Sumire’s face growing deeper from his deep voice. No matter how many times he would compliment her, her heart would always feel like it would explode.

“Se-senpai… it’s not good for my heart when you do that…” Sumire whined, her smile betraying her true feelings as she attempted to look away from Akira’s face. However, Akira brought his other hand up and gently lifted her face to meet his again. Her heart began beating even faster as he simply smiled at her, his grey eyes soft with kindness yet firm in his love for her. Sumire couldn’t take it any longer as she wrapped her arm around Akira and cuddled up against his warm body. It was then that she realized how fast Akira’s own heart was beating and smiled; this was her one chance to tease him. “I love you… so much, Akira,” her voice barely reached a whisper as she spoke into Akira’s ear, but she received the wanted response as she felt Akira’s entire body shake slightly. 

Sumire pulled away from Akira’s ear and saw the blush on Akira’s cheeks. It felt as if fireworks were going off in her head as she saw Akira fully flustered; she was now addicted to the sight. Unfortunately Akira calmed himself down quickly, returning his previously wavering attention back to Sumire before reaching for his phone; it was 7:00 a.m. “We should probably get up; today’s a very special day,” Akira sighed as he propped himself up on his elbows, desperately wanting to stay like that for the rest of the day. Sumire looked up quizzically at her boyfriend as he slid off the bed, failing to stop a small gasp as Akira flapped his shirt to cool himself off; Sumire caught a brief look at his stomach and couldn’t help but notice his firm abs. She shook her head as Akira looked back at her in confusion before returning her attention back to him.

“What do you mean by special day, Senpai?” Sumire questioned her beloved, a small smile forming on Akira’s lips as he moved towards her. She sat up in the bed and attempted to get up to her feet, but Akira scooped her up into a bridal carry. “A-Akira!” She yelped as she wrapped her arms around his neck for support, her face burning in embarrassment as Akira smiled down at her.

“Every day with you is special, sweetheart,” Akira teased. Sumire’s face burned even brighter; she had expected that answer, but hearing Akira say it still made her heart flutter. “But also today is Christmas Eve, and I want to spend it with the one I love more than the world itself,” Akira finished, leaning his head down to peck Sumire on the forehead.

“Wh-what do you ha-have in mind?” Sumire stuttered shyly, her body beginning to relax in Akira’s arms. 

“I’ll let you know later. For now, let’s get dressed and get something to eat,” Akira said, and as if right on cue both of their stomachs growled. Akira and Sumire looked at each other for a second before giggling. In the giggle fit, Akira let Sumire down, holding onto her as he saw her legs shake when her feet touched the ground. Once she was able to stand, Akira brought his hands away from her and went to grab a change of clothes. 

“Se-senpai!” Sumire shouted as Akira lifted up his shirt to change. He stopped as he heard his name and looked over at Sumire; she was covering her face with her hands but her fingers were parted so she could still see him. 

“Sorry about that,” Akira said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as his shirt dropped back down. “Here, I’ll go change downstai-” Akira began walking towards the stairs when he felt Sumire’s hand grasping his sleeve. He turned around only to see her staring at the ground, her face lit up once again as she mumbled something he couldn’t catch. Instead of teasing her any further, Akira calmly waited for her to muster up the courage to speak louder.

“So-Sojiro might be down there already, and I don’t want him to yell at you…” Sumire semi-lied. Akira forced back a smirk, instead smiling sweetly at her; he could see straight through her lie but decided to play along.

“I’m happy you’re looking out for me, Sumi. We’ll just have to turn around for each other then,” Akira finished with a shrug, Sumire still unable to meet his eyes as she nodded her head. With a final smile, Akira turned his back to Sumire and lifted his shirt up. Sumire was about to do the same when an overwhelming desire to peek at Akira’s bare body made her look up. Her eyes were locked on his muscular back as he fought to get the long sleeved shirt off. As Akira lifted his shirt higher and higher, Sumire noticed more and more scars on his otherwise perfect body. She was about to comment on them when she realized his shirt was fully off and he was pulling down his sweatpants. Face beet red, Sumire flipped around as her hand shot out for her own clothes. 

Akira knew that Sumire was staring at him and smiled when he heard the sudden shift behind him as he gripped his pants; Sumire wasn’t ready to see anything like that as she still got flustered by physical contact. He could hear the rustling of clothes behind him and felt an urge to look back, but resisted the urge. If Sumire caught him peeping after all the teasing he did this morning she might actually faint.

Some time passed as the two changed into their normal winter clothes, the couple both fighting back their desires to look backwards at the other. “A-alright, I’m all done,” Sumire shyly muttered, barely reaching Akira’s ears.

“Me too,” Akira said, turning around to see Sumire wearing her vibrant red coat he adored. She also had on a pair of black tights along with her simple black shoes still bedside. Akira smiled at his girlfriend as he reached out to her. Sumire happily took his hand as she ran her eyes up and down his body; Akira was wearing blue jeans along with a plain white shirt and a heavy black coat. Leading Sumire over to the bed, they both slipped into their shoes before heading downstairs to an empty Leblanc. Akira couldn’t help but smirk; as he thought Sojiro wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Instead, as he and Sumire walked into the store, Akira saw a note on the countertop in Sojiro’s handwriting and picked it up. Sumire pulled his arm down so she could read the note as well.

_I’m gonna stay at home for a while so you and Sumire can have some more alone time together. If you’re gonna head out today let me know, alright?_

_Sojiro_

“That’s nice of him,” Akira said as he put the note back onto the counter. He then pointed at the stool nearest to him and looked over at Sumire. “Here, take a seat. I’ll make us breakfast.” 

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Sumire asked. Akira put his hand up to his chin in thought before his eyes lit up.

“Yes there is! Sit here and look as beautiful as you are right now!” Akira exclaimed, receiving a pout from Sumire as he walked behind the counter and towards the fridge. Muttering something Akira couldn’t catch, Sumire sat down at the bar still pouting as Akira searched for ingredients to make curry. After grabbing everything he needed, Akira began cooking. 

Once the curry was done and the two were good and hungry, Akira grabbed four plates of the curry and placed two in front of Sumire and two next to her. “Senpai, you know that I don’t need all of this…” Sumire complained, looking at the four plates in front of her. Akira shook his head as he made his way towards her, sitting right next to her.

“Not all of these are for you,” Akira said as he pulled two plates towards him, his stomach growling even more as he stared at the curry in front of him. It was then that Sumire was reminded of what happened last night.

“Hey Akira, was what happened last night… that was real, right?” Sumire hesitantly asked, a slight amount of shame washing over her body from the question. Akira saw her look down and turned his body towards hers, reaching out to lift her chin up. His eyes met hers; again there was nothing but love and kindness in there.

“Of course it was,” Akira reassured his girlfriend. “Everything you saw was 100% real, including your sister. We can go in there whenever you like, Sumi.” Sumire’s eyes widened at the last part; whenever she liked.

“Senpai, you remember your promise, right?”

“Of course I do!” Akira puffed out his chest and beat his right hand on it, making Sumire giggle as she turned to her warm curry. “I’ll be the most selfish person for you, Sumi,” Akira added on before turning to his own food. As he was devouring his first plate, Sumire was blushing furiously as she shakily spooned her food into her mouth. Akira noticed this of course but was too busy eating to tease her any further, already on his second plate of curry.

 _“Must you play with the poor girl’s heart like that?”_ Raoul’s voice echoed clearly in Akira’s mind, a grin forming on the black haired teen’s face.

‘What can I say except that I love it when she gets flustered,’ Akira responded. His inner self responded with a low chuckle. ‘C’mon Raoul, you know you love it too. We are the same being after all.’

 _“Very well; I admit I love when she gets embarrassed as well,”_ Raoul conceded. 

“Akira-senpai?” Sumire’s voice cut through Akira’s inner conversation with Raoul, bringing him back to reality. Both of his plates were empty in front of him with Sumire only finishing her first. Akira looked over at Sumire; she was staring at him curiously.

“It’s nothing; just having a chat with Raoul is all,” Akira responded. Sumire’s face scrunched up in confusion even more before relaxing; it honestly didn’t surprise her that Akira could communicate with his persona so freely. Sumire could even hear Ella from time to time in her own head, but clearly not to the extent Akira could. 

“What were you two talking about?” Sumire questioned, digging into her second plate of food.

“You,” Akira replied truthfully. Sumire smiled at the word as she continued eating; just knowing that Akira was talking about her, even with his persona, made her happy. In no time Sumire finished her second plate of curry, fully satisfied from the meal.

“That was amazing, Akira. Thank you,” Sumire breathed out. Akira smiled at her as he pulled out his phone to check the time; it was quarter til 8. ‘Sojiro did say that he would open later today, but I don’t want him to lose business because of me,’ Akira thought to himself, grabbing Sumire’s empty plates and stacked it on his.

“We should get going, Sumi,” Akira said as he pushed his seat back, standing up in front of Sumire.

“Didn’t Sojiro say that we could have the store to ourselves for a while?” Sumire asked, an almost pleading look in her eyes as she looked up at Akira.

“Yeah, but I don’t want him to lose busine-” Akira began, stopping due to Sumire staring at him and tugging at his sleeve.

“Senpai, didn’t you say you would be more selfish? Sojiro said we could have the store for a while, so let's accept his kindness,” Sumire said, tugging even harder on Akira’s sleeve. Akira grit his teeth as he stared into her eyes, his resolve breaking against her puppy dog eyes.

“Alright, you win,” Akira eventually said, sighing in defeat. Sumire’s face lit up in glee as she jumped up and wrapped her arms around Akira, kissing him on the cheek. Akira chuckled to himself as he put his arms around Sumire, staring into her eyes as they swayed back and forth. 

“Let’s go sit down at the booth, Akira-senpai,” Sumire suggested, breaking from the hug. She grabbed hold of Akira’s hand and led him towards the center booth, sliding into said booth with Akira right behind her. Once they were both situated, Sumire didn’t waste any time laying her head on Akira’s shoulder, closing her eyes as she felt the warmth of his body coming off him.

Akira smiled down at his girlfriend, feeling her slowly wrap her arm around his own. “I’m so glad you showed me that last night, Akira,” Sumire whispered happily. Akira placed his own head against hers, a shiver speeding through his body from hearing his name.

“I’m happy to have shown you my heart Sumi. My true heart,” Akira whispered back, leaning towards her ear for the last part. It was Sumire’s turn for chills to run across her body as a light blush formed on her face. 

“That ride up in the sky was so amazing. Do you think we could do that again soon?” Sumire asked, her blush eventually dying down as she closed her eyes. She clearly remembered free falling to the ground before being scooped up by Akira along with the ground zooming past her.

“Of course we can,” Akira softly responded, a small smile on his face as he felt Raoul begin to get excited within him. “Just say the word and I’ll take you back there.” Sumire’s grip around Akira’s arm became tighter as she snuggled closer to him, her smile growing wider before a thought crossed her mind.

“Senpai, can you transform in reality as well?” Sumire blurted out. Akira turned his head slightly to look down at her before closing his eyes in thought. He suddenly felt a rush of power within him as Raoul pushed himself to the forefront of Akira’s soul. With a grin, Akira motioned for Sumire to get off his shoulder before sliding out from the booth. Sumire only watched in awe as Akira’s face scrunched up in concentration, dark red flames beginning to flicker around him. Sweat began forming on Akira’s forehead as the flames began growing larger and larger until they fully surrounded him. 

“Ngh…” Akira grunted from the mental strain it was taking as he felt his own body melting into Raoul’s. Then, with a gust of air that shook the entire cafe, the flames dispersed to reveal Raoul where Akira was standing. The persona-human only barely fit in Leblanc, his wings curled up as to not destroy anything. The only Sumire could do was stare in wonderment at her boyfriend’s power as Raoul smirked down at her.

“Incredible,” Sumire breathed out. 

“The only problem is that I can’t hold this for very long,” Raoul said through gritted teeth before he fazed out of existence, leaving Akira standing in front of Sumire. “It just puts too much mental strain on me, but I think I can manage to hold it for around two minutes at this rate.” Akira grinned over at Sumire as he saw a worried look on her face; he was sweating quite a lot and his breathing was heavy.

“Are you alright Akira?” Sumire asked, Akira’s attempts at reassuring her not enough. Akira nodded, focusing inward as he calmed himself down.

“Yeah, I’m all good,” Akira said at last, wiping away the last of the sweat on his brow as his breathing normalized. Sumire smiled at her boyfriend, moving to stand up right in front of him and put her arms around him.

“That really is amazing, Akira,” Sumire whispered as she rested her head on Akira’s chest. “You really are the world’s greatest man.” Akira leaned down to Sumire’s ear, and Sumire braced her heart for what he was about to say.

“And I’m all yours,” he whispered. Despite her preparations, Sumire’s face still glowed red and her heart felt as if it was beating out of her chest, but she was overjoyed at his words. Akira smiled at her and, still having an arm around her, took out his phone to check the time and frowned. He had received a message from a number he didn’t recognize and immediately unlocked his phone to read it. Sumire looked up at Akira and then down at his phone to see the message he received.

_Hello Akira Kurusu, my name is Mitsuru Kirijo of the Shadow Operatives. I will be at Leblanc shortly to ask you a favor._

Just as Akira and Sumire finished reading they heard the door to Leblanc open. Their eyes shot up towards the door to find two women standing before them; a busty redheaded woman with a fleece coat stood next to a teenaged looking girl with short blonde hair and wearing a light blue dress. Akira frowned as he looked at her though; he could see her legs have a metallic shine to them along with her hands being sectioned weirdly at the fingertips. ‘A robot girl, huh?’ Akira thought inwardly as he felt Sumire behind him clutching at his coat.

“I’m assuming you are Akira Kurusu?” the redhead spoke up eventually with an impassive tone in her voice.

“Yes I am. I’ll take it that you’re Mitsuru Kirijo?” Akira questioned back, matching her tone of voice as he stared blankly at her. The woman nodded as she placed a sleek briefcase with the words “Shadow Operatives” in bold letters on it onto the countertop. With one swift action Mitsuru unlocked the briefcase and opened it up. “What do you want?” Akira questioned as he stared into the briefcase; inside were two plain-looking arm braces.

“Aigis and I noticed a strange energy coming from this area, specifically from Leblanc. Upon closer inspection we knew that the energy was from a persona user, but it was completely different from anything we’ve ever seen. The ability to fuse with your persona is incredible, Akira,” Mitsuru responded calmly, turning towards Akira and a now curious Sumire. “I’ll be blunt: you are the strongest persona user we have ever witnessed besides one other person, Akira, and we wish for you to join the Shadow Operati-”

“No,” Akira interrupted firmly, his eyes now piercing through Mitsuru. The woman looked taken aback at his response before noticing Akira was grasping Sumire’s hand behind him and smiled slightly.

“Ah, I take it that you’re Sumire Yoshizawa. Another persona user as well,” Misturu said. Sumire nodded shyly behind Akira’s back before frowning and stepping beside Akira.

“How do you know our names?” She asked. “And how do you know we’re persona users and that Akira can fuse with his persona?” Akira and Sumire’s attention shifted to the robotic girl named Aigis as she stepped forward.

“The Shadow Operatives are tasked to monitor Japan for any unusual energy signals like shadows or personas. If we detect anything unusual we perform numerous checks on the person and people around them for any unusual behaviors,” Aigis informed the two, Mitsuru nodding right beside her.

“And you want me to join simply because I can fuse with my persona?” Akira asked before shaking his head, gripping Sumire’s hand tighter. “I’m sorry, but I’m walking down a different path now.” Akira paused; could he trust these people? ‘They’re clearly persona users as well, and if they’re persona users it might be good if I’m planning on using my power to help others,’ Akira thought to himself.

 _“Let us tell them about our intentions,”_ Raoul echoed within Akira’s soul, causing him to grin outwardly to the three women’s confusion.

“I won’t join you guys, but I will continue helping those in trouble,” Akira firmly told the two in front of him. “If that means I have to fight shadows then so be it.” Mitsuru fully smiled upon hearing him say that and motioned towards the arm braces.

“I respect your decision to not join us, but I still believe a partnership could be made between us,” Mitsuru explained as she slid the briefcase towards Akira, who simply stared at her while waiting for her to continue. “What I mean by that is that you keep an eye out for anything unusual in this area and promptly deal with any threats. If you agree to those terms I will gladly give you these.” Akira’s face scrunched up in confusion as he looked over at the braces; they were clearly made of metal and looked sturdy, but otherwise nothing else notable about them.

“What are they?” he asked, Sumire also looking at the braces. Mitsuru reached for her side and pulled out a gun with “Shadow Operatives” on the side, causing Akira to instinctively take a step in front of Sumire.

“Don’t worry; this isn’t a normal gun,” Mitsuru reassured the two teens as she placed it on the counter as well. “We call these “evokers”; they allow us to summon our personas under certain conditions or in extremely dire situations. We don’t need them to summon our personas necessarily, but without them we can barely control our personas. You may have noticed that Aigis is mechanical; her evoker is built inside of her.”

“Why are you telling us all this?” Sumire spoke up, Mitsuru smiling at her in response as she motioned towards the braces.

“Please, Akira, if you would put the larger one on,” Mitsuru said, her hand pointing towards the briefcase. Akira stared at the braces for a moment before slowly walking towards them, Sumire moving out of the way as he reached down and grasped the larger one. It was smooth to the touch with no imperfections anywhere to be seen, but he felt Raoul resonate within him. Akira gently lifted the brace out of the briefcase and, pulling back his sleeve, slipped it onto his arm. Immediately he felt Raoul surge within himself as the brace glowed a dark red, almost summoning him completely by accident.

“Shit!” Akira grunted as he relaxed his body, the brace dimming down again as the outline of Raoul faded away. Mitsuru and Aigis grinned at the former phantom thief as he calmed back down, Sumire putting her hand on his shoulder with a scared look on her face.

“Akira! What happened?” She exclaimed as he took a deep breath in, staring in awe at the metallic brace on his arm.

“Just from putting this on I almost summoned Raoul,” Akira breathed out, still not fully believing what just happened.

“After sensing your power last night, I had my best people make you these,” Mitsuru informed Akira, walking forward and, to Sumire’s displeasure, took Akira’s hand as she lifted his arm up. “This is a version of the evoker we use; it will allow you to more easily summon your persona, but it won’t do much for fusing I’m afraid. Assuming by the look in your eye we have a deal?” Mitsuru asked, a slight grin still on her face.

“I was already planning on helping others, and this is going to help a lot. Alright, it’s a deal,” Akira replied with his own smirk, reaching out and grasping Mitsuru’s hand. Yet again there was no stopping of time or Lavenza’s voice echoing in his mind as he let go. Smiling inward, Akira turned to put the other brace on before realizing that it was significantly smaller than the one he was wearing and also right handed.

“Oh right, I forgot to mention that I made the other one for Sumire-san,” Mitsuru cut through his confusion, causing Sumire to look up in shock. Akira knew what they were going to ask and immediately pushed his power towards Sumire, making her able to summon Ella.

“Wh-what? Why me?” She stammered, looking over at Akira as she felt Ella within her stir. Akira smiled at her; he could take a few guesses why.

“When doing some research last night, we found that you were the closest one to Akira-kun relationship wise,” Aigis spoke up. “Due to the nature of your bond with him we believe it fruitful to give you an evoker as well; that is, if you accept the same terms Akira-san did.” Sumire looked between the robotic teen and Akira, feeling unconfident until seeing Akira beaming at her. His eyes sparkled, staring into her own as he slowly nodded, moving away so the briefcase was directly in front of her. Taking a shaky breath, Sumire steeled her resolve as she took a step forward right in front of the evoker and reached out for it.

Just like with Akira, when she touched the evoker Sumire felt Ella spring forward in her soul. “H-huh?” she pulled her hand back from the evoker, Ella lingering in her mind.

 _“Wh… ...rong?”_ Sumire heard Ella whisper internally, her persona’s voice breaking as Ella’s presence began to fall back into her soul. Upon hearing her persona’s voice so clearly, Sumire placed her hand back onto the evoker and picked it up. Rolling up her sleeve, Sumire slid her right arm into the evoker and immediately felt Ella surge within her. At the same time white light began shining from the evoker as Ella began forming within Leblanc. 

“Sumire, calm down!” Akira commanded, Sumire taking a deep breath as she fully realized what was going on. She felt Ella return back into her soul as her evoker dulled back to its original grey color.

“Wow, this is incredible,” Sumire’s voice barely reached the three as she stared at her evoker in awe when another thought crossed her mind. “Wait Senpai, why aren’t we in our Thieves clothes?” Akira smirked at her as his eyes flashed dark red; dark red flames surrounded him momentarily to reveal him in his new Thief outfit.

“I only gave you the ability to summon your persona; you need to be the one to turn into a phantom thief,” Akira replied, his smirk growing larger. Mitsuru and Aigis stared at the two, somewhat shocked by the change in attire for Akira when Sumire closed her eyes in concentration. Blue flames surrounded her only to reveal her in her own Thief outfit. Mitsuru smiled at the two as she took a step forward.

“I see; you change your appearance when you fight shadows,” she noted as the flames enveloped the couple again, changing back into their normal clothes. “I also noticed a mask on your faces; is that how you summoned your personas?”

“Yeah, but now with these its kind of obsolete,” Akira pointed out, Sumire looking at him curiously.

“Senpai, you didn’t have your mask on last night,” she said, Akira giving her a knowing smile in return.

“Well, if we’re going to be fighting in reality we can’t have people recognize us, can we?” he said playfully before looking up at the ceiling. “Well, I guess I can just cast Makajamaon on the bystanders and then we would be good…” Before Mitsuru could make a comment she felt a vibration in her pocket and pulled out her phone.

“I’m sorry but I believe that is all the time we have today,” Mitsuru said as she turned off her phone and returned it to her pocket. “I trust that you will keep your side of the deal, Akira and Sumire.” The couple, hand in hand with their evokers glowing slightly underneath their sleeves, nodded their heads towards the two women. Satisfied, Mitsuru and Aigis turned around and left Leblanc, leaving Akira and Sumire alone once again.

“Wait, what is the time?” Akira wondered aloud, pulling out his phone. “It’s already eleven?!” Akira exclaimed. Sumire recoiled from the sudden exclamation before giggling at him; he so easily moved on from what just happened with the Shadow Operatives.

“We should get going then,” Sumire suggested, taking one final look at her evoker under her coat; to most it would seem that they were just wearing matching braces, so hopefully they wouldn’t attract too much attention. Akira nodded his head as he shot a text to Sojiro saying that they were heading out and, still holding Sumire’s hand, walked out of Leblanc.

As they walked hand in hand towards the station, Sumire finally remembered that Akira mentioned doing something today. “Hey Senpai, what are we doing today?” she asked sweetly. Akira turned his head towards her as they stopped on the platform that would take them to Shibuya.

“Hold on, does your dad know you’re with me still?” Akira asked back. Sumire nodded in response, taking out her phone and showing Akira her texts with her dad. 

“Yeah. He knew that today was Christmas Eve and gave me permission to stay with you for the day. But not for the night…” Sumire trailed off, her voice ringing with sadness.

“We already spent the night together; I think he just wants to have you back for a night,” Akira reassured her as the train passed by them, eventually coming to a stop not long after. 

“Wait! Maybe you can stay the night at my house!” Sumire exclaimed as she quickly texted her dad. Akira smiled at his girlfriend as they waited for the response, the train doors opening. Sumire’s face lit up in glee as she saw the confirmation text from her father. “He said yes! I’m so happy!” Smiling at his girlfriend, Akira led Sumire by the hand onto the packed train and, by some miracle, found two open seats next to each other. Sitting down, Sumire turned towards her boyfriend, her heart still racing from her dad giving permission for Akira to stay the night as she gave him an expectant look.

“Oh right!” Akira exclaimed as he reached into his coat pocket out two tickets to Destinyland. Sumire’s face lit up instantly in joy and, before Akira could say anything, she hugged him tightly.

“We’re really going to Destinyland?” Sumire asked, looking up into Akira’s eyes in excitement.

“Yeah, I was hoping you would be okay with it,” Akira responded, a smile crossing his face as he saw Sumire beaming up at him. “I’m so happy that you’re excited, Sumi.”

“I almost never get to go to Destinyland! And it’s with you; I couldn’t be more excited!” Sumire happily exclaimed, still having her arms wrapped around Akira’s body. Some nearby passengers shot the two glares from all the commotion, but Akira simply glared back as Sumire was happily oblivious of the people staring. Akira’s eyes flashed red along with his evoker and instantly the people looked away, allowing him to return his attention back to his still oblivious girlfriend.

“Hey, let’s quiet down a little bit,” Akira suggested with a pat on Sumire’s head. Realization hit Sumire as she released her grasp around Akira, her face blazing red as she looked down at the ground.

“Ri-right..” she murmured in embarrassment. Akira grabbed hold of her hand and lightly squeezed it, his smile waiting for her as she looked up at him.

“It’s alright, Sumi. You were just excited,” Akira reassured his beloved, kissing her on the forehead as the train came to a stop. Akira was the first to stand up with Sumire, her hand still locked with Akira’s, following close behind him as they transferred lines to go to Destinyland.

After another packed train ride filled with idle chatter and hand holding, the young couple finally arrived at a crowded Destinyland. After giving the employee at the check-in station their tickets, Akira and Sumire stood in the central part of the theme park.

“What do you want to do, Sumi?” Akira asked, noticing the entranced look in Sumire’s eyes as she took in her surroundings. Sumire jolted slightly as Akira squeezed her hand and turned towards Akira, a sheepish smile on her face.

“U-um, if it's okay with you could we go watch the parade near the castle? It’s a Featherman-themed parade and the actual actors are here!” Sumire happily exclaimed. Akira nodded in response, actually getting excited himself as he loved Featherman as much as Sumire.

“Let’s go! Does it start soon?” Akira questioned as he led Sumire towards the giant castle in the center of the park. Sumire pulled out her phone and immediate panic set in on her face.

“It starts in five minutes! Let’s hurry, Senpai!” Sumire exclaimed, suddenly dragging Akira behind her as she broke into a full sprint towards the parade. Akira, after the initial shock, ran right beside Sumire as they rushed towards a large growing crowd by the castle. Just as they approached the sounds of trumpets and drums could be heard, signifying the start of the parade. 

“I can’t see!” Sumire complained as she got onto her tiptoes to try and see the parade, but the sea of people in front of them was blocking the view. Without a second thought Akira put his hands underneath Sumire and, making sure no one was directly behind him, lifted her onto his shoulders. “A-Akira!” she yelped as she felt Akira’s firm hand around her thighs.

“Can you see now?” Akira asked with a smug smile on his face as Sumire burned bright red. However, she could clearly see all the Feathermen on brightly colored floats along with giant balloons in the sky and her face lit up in glee. All the Feathermen were dancing together as songs from the show blared around them with Feather Red and Feather White, who was a new addition in the latest season, were right next to each other. 

“Senpai, they’re so cool!” Sumire happily exclaimed on top of his shoulders. Akira only moved his eyes up to see her happy face and smiled; even though he could barely see himself he was perfectly content as long as Sumire was happy. He did see Feather Red lift Feather White high above his head and threw her upwards. Feather White did three mid air spins before landing in Feather Red’s arms again, the parade continuing on as the crowd followed closely behind.

“Senpai, this is the theme song!” Sumire yelled as “Let’s go Featherman!” began, the small band’s flanking the main float sound being amplified numerous times by speakers. Without any warning, a monster, which was clearly someone in a costume, jumped onto the float and began fighting the Feathermen. Sumire and Akira were completely entranced in the fight, with Sumire cheering whenever the Feathermen would land a hit or shrieking when the monster hit a Featherman and Akira focusing on their teamwork and the fight choreography. 

As the singer on the float ahead of the fight came to the last “Feather MAAAAN” Feather White kicked off of Feather Red’s hands into the air and slashed down the monster, saving the day as the Feathermen struck one final pose with Feather White draped over Feather Red’s arm. Sumire clapped vigorously along with the rest of the crowd as the parade came to a close, the band playing the ending theme as the actors got off the float.

“Senpai, that was amazing! Feather Red and Feather White were my favorite throughout it all!” Sumire exclaimed as Akira gently put her down, massaging his neck from the lack of weight pressing down on it. 

“What a coincidence, me too!” Akira happily responded, grabbing Sumire’s hand as the crowd began to disperse and moved towards the sides of the road by the bars surrounding the castle. “It’s only natural that we’re drawn to them; they have a natural chemistry with each other and so do we,” he said in a matter of fact tone once the crowd dispersed. Sumire beamed up at him before she frowned slightly.

“I’m thankful that you lifted me up, but did you have a good time?” Sumire asked worriedly. She opened her mouth to continue but Akira leaned down and met her lips with his own. They held the kiss for a few seconds before breaking, Sumire’s cheeks slightly red, she smiled shyly up at Akira as he returned the smile.

“Of course I had a good time, Sumi,” Akira gently responded, running his hand through her crimson hair. “As long as I’m with you, I’m the happiest man in the world. And besides, I’m pretty tall so I could see for the most part.” Sumire’s blush deepened before she giggled.

“I’m glad you feel the same way, Senpai,” Sumire whispered to Akira as she hugged him tightly. Akira wrapped his arms around her as well, resting his head on hers while they swayed right in front of the castle. Suddenly Akira’s eyes widened as he let go of Sumire and looked wildly around the park. “What’s wrong, Akira!?” Sumire questioned as Akira’s hands covered his crotch and she failed to suppress her laughter.

“Bathroom… where’s the bathroom?!” Akira nearly shouted as, luckily for him, a worker heard him and pointed in the direction of the bathrooms. He immediately sprinted over towards where he pointed, Sumire following close behind him. “Stay right here, okay?” Akira quickly told Sumire as he ran into the bathroom, leaving Sumire at the entrance.

‘Phew, just made it,’ Akira thought as he quickly did his business, sighing to himself as his entire body relaxed. Once he was finished and while washing his hands, he felt Maria within him rise in rare anger from the persona and he knew something or someone was bothering Sumire. Not bothering to dry off his hands, Akira sprinted out into the open and heard a man’s voice from where Sumire was.

“Hey, you’re that girl that I met earlier last year, right? You look cute with glasses on; wanna come hang out with me?” he heard the sleazy man say and felt his blood boil. Akira turned the corner and saw Sumire staring at the man who harassed her before the school clean up event the year prior. As he ran towards his girlfriend, he heard Sumire’s voice.

“No I don’t; I’m waiting for someone else,” Sumire said coldly. Without a bow she began walking away from the man when his hand shot out again. However, a flash of red shot past him and someone grabbed his wrist. Sumire grinned as she saw Raoul hovering above the sleazy man, holding his wrist tightly.

“If you try to touch her again, you won’t like what happens next,” Akira warned from behind the man, both his and attention turning towards him. He was now in his Phantom Thief outfit as he took deliberately slow steps towards the now frightened man.

“Wh-who the hell are you?” the pervert shouted out as numerous people began pulling out their phones to record what was going on. Akira’s eyes flashed yellow beneath his pulsing red mask, a small amount of electricity shooting out of Raoul’s free hand and into the bystander’s phones. Shouting came from all around as people’s phones began shutting down. 

Before Akira could respond to the man, Sumire’s evoker glowed bright white as blue flames enveloped her to reveal her in her Thief outfit. As she focused Ella materialized behind her, more and more people staring in awe and horror at the sight. “I am no longer that weak girl that needed help,” Sumire said, her voice cold as she took steps towards the older man. 

“Pl-please forgive me!” the perverted man screamed out as Raoul let go of his wrist, Ella floating right next to Akira’s persona as the man fell to the ground. “I swear I’ll be good, just let me go!”

“What shall we do, my Violet?” Akira asked with malice in his voice and a wicked grin on his face.

“I suppose we shall let him go, Joker,” Sumire said, staring straight through the scared man in between them. Joker let out a low chuckle as his evoker began to dull from the dark red it was shining, Raoul beginning to disappear.

“Very well,” Akira nodded before turning his attention to the man looking wildly between them as Ella also disappeared. “You heard her; we’re letting you off this once, so run.” The man stared up at Akira and scrambled to his feet at the rage in the teen’s eyes, running as fast as he could away from the Thief couple. Upon seeing that they were the center of attention, Akira approached Sumire as they both were surrounded by flames, returning to their normal clothes and calmly grabbed her hand.

“We need to go,” he said, Sumire nodding as they began to walk away. The mob of people only watched in awe as they attempted to make phone calls or record but to no avail. Akira’s eyes glowed bright pink as he whispered “Makajamaon” and pink energy shot from his open hand and into the sky. After a second it broke off and hit every person in the park, and everyone in the immediate area returned to their own business. 

“Thank you, Akira,” Sumire said as they calmly walked back towards the castle, the sun beginning to set. Akira turned his face towards her and smiled down at her as he squeezed her hand.

“You did a good job standing up to him. I’m actually kind of scared of what would have happened to him if I didn’t step in,” Akira chuckled, confusion spreading on Sumire’s face.

“What do you mean, Senpai?” she asked him as they stopped by the railing by the castle again. 

“All I’m saying is that he might have lost a hand,” Akira replied ominously, but Sumire smiled at his comment before a thought popped into her mind.

“Hey Akira, how am I able to summon Ella like that? Didn’t you say it took a lot out of you to give us our powers in reality?” Sumire asked, quieting her voice so only Akira could hear her. Akira grinned at her, a confused look coming right back at him.

“Earlier today when we met with Mitsuru and Aigis I gave you a portion of my power,” Akira informed his girlfriend. “Basically, you can transform and summon Ella whenever you want, even without me around.” 

“Wait, really?” Sumire asked, surprise clear in her voice. Akira chuckled to himself as he pulled out his phone to check the time. 

“Yeah,” Akira nodded before moving his attention back to Sumire. “It’s 5 p.m right now. We still have time, do you want to go see some attractions?” he asked her only to receive an enthusiastic nod.

“I want to go explore the castle!” Sumire exclaimed as they began walking. Akira smiled at her as he led her towards a long line for the tour of the beautiful castle.

“Are you alright to wait in line?” Akira asked as he stared at the line; it would probably take an hour just for them to get in, along with another hour for the tour itself.

“Mhm! I’ll be fine with you by my side!” Sumire happily squeezed Akira’s hand before pecking him on the cheek. Her heart fluttered as she received her reward; Akira’s cheeks turning a light pink from the rare displays of affection Sumire initiated. Instead of shaking it off, Akira allowed himself to keep the blush as he saw the proud look in Sumire’s eyes. 

_“So, she also enjoys teasing,”_ Raoul echoed within Akira as the couple slowly moved through the line. 

‘It appears so,’ Akira responded with an internal smile. ‘I guess I’ll have to fall into her traps more often.’

“Are you talking with Raoul?” Sumire’s voice suddenly brought Akira back to reality. He looked over at her as she grinned at him.

“Am I really that obvious?” Akira asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head before the two broke out into giggles. Idle chatter and sweet gestures filled their otherwise boring wait to get into the castle. Finally, after around an hour and fifteen minutes of waiting, the two were put into a tour group and were led into the main hall of the castle.

“Wow…” Sumire breathed out, her eyes sparkling in wonder at the sight of the hall. Numerous chandeliers hung from the ceiling, the walls painted a light blue. Around the room were multiple lush looking chairs and fancy wooden tables. Akira smiled at his girlfriend before also taking a look around and winced slightly; it was similar to how his palace’s main hall was. Sumire noticed the wince and knew immediately what was wrong and squeezed his hand in reassurance. She looked up to him and gave him a big smile, Akira returning it in kind as the tour guide began moving towards a nearby open door.

The tour was amazing, with Sumire entranced the entire time while Akira was beaming at her the entire time. Seeing her happy was his first priority, and he succeeded with flying colors. At the end of the tour, the tour guide left them in the ballroom with classical music playing.

“Attention all guests, the dance will now begin. Thank you for your patience.” Came over an intercom as the lighting dimmed. Akira and Sumire met each other’s eyes, saying the same thing without speaking a word as Akira grabbed her left hand with his right and put his left on her side with Sumire laying her right hand on his sturdy shoulder. They began to sway as the music filled the room, Sumire’s eyelids falling slightly as they forgot all the other guests in the room. No one was paying them any mind, too focused on their own guests as Sumire put her head against Akira’s chest.

“Shall we change into something more romantic?’ Akira whispered in her ear, small flames eating away at his clothes until he had changed in his Thief outfit. Sumire looked around, panic in her eyes until she realized that no one still paid them any attention and smiled as blue flames licked at her clothes until she was in her black leotard. The two Thieves began to slide around the ballroom, Akira gracefully turning Sumire around as he felt their solid bond resonate between them. 

“I love you so much, Sumi,” Akira whispered as he pulled her close to him and glided around the ballroom, more and more eyes falling on them. Sumire looked up at his unobstructed smiling face, her eyes full of happiness and contentment as she nestled her head into his chest.

“I love you even more, Akira,” she whispered back, feeling Akira’s body shiver again. They finished their dance at the center of the ballroom, swaying in each other’s arms as now everyone was staring at them. Akira realized before Sumire that everyone was looking at them and, before anyone could react, took her hand and led her out of the ballroom. The other dancers only watched on as the couple left the castle, hand in hand with Sumire resting her head on Akira’s shoulder and their clothes changed back. Akira casted Makajamaon again to make sure no one noticed, but hardly anyone seemed to care as they began to walk around the park.

“Let’s go ride some rides!” Sumire happily exclaimed, leading Akira by the hand towards some large looking roller coasters. Akira nodded happily as Sumire bounced towards the nearest one and, after a surprisingly short wait, got onto the ride. Akira didn’t really care for roller coasters, but it was clear that Sumire loved them as she had her hands raised and screaming in delight the entire time so Akira was content. For the final drop of the ride Akira rose his arms up and screamed along with Sumire to her delight, water spouts shooting up behind the train.

Once they got off and after a few other rides, the sun was close to setting on the horizon and the lights around the park were already activated. “We should probably get going, Sumire,” Akira notified her as he checked his phone; it was now 8 p.m and they still haven’t eaten yet. As if on cue, both their stomachs growled and they looked over at each other and laughed as they left Destinyland.

“Hopefully my parents have made dinner already,” Sumire said, a slight amount of concern on her face as they got onto the nearest train towards Shibuya. 

“Text them to see,” Akira suggested. Sumire did just that and received an immediate response saying that Shinichi and Sumire’s mother did make dinner as well as adding that they had a plate ready for Akira.

“Thank god…” Akira breathed out, his stomach rumbling louder as they transferred lines. He sent a text to Sojiro and Futaba saying that he would be with Sumire’s family for the night and to take care of Morgana for him as they sat down on the train going towards the station closest to Sumire’s house.

Within five minutes they were off the train and in another five were on the front porch of Sumire’s house. Akira had been there once before when Sumire awakened to Ella before fighting Maruki, but never met Sumire’s mother, Akane, so he was understandably concerned. Not for himself, but for Sumire as he heard her talk about how she would ask a lot of questions about him.

Akira reached out his hand to knock on the door and barely touched it as it flung open. He was face to face with a very excited middle aged woman with vibrant red hair. She was wearing a bright blue dress with a dirty apron over it, her hair tied up into a ponytail as she stared excitedly at Akira and Sumire.

“You must be Akira, right?” the woman, Akane Akira assumed, asked excitedly before seeing they were holding hands and her smile grew even wider. “Oh my god! You two are so cute together! Shinichi, get over here!” She called into the house, Sumire’s face glowing bright red from her mother’s excitement. Akira smiled over at her despite his own cheeks having a rosy tint which Akane did not miss as Shinichi appeared next to her. He was wearing a pink dress shirt with stylish black pants and shoes to match.

“Aww, they both get embarrassed easily! You two are made for each other!” Akane happily tittered over the couple, both of their blushes deepening when Shinichi placed his hand on his wife’s shoulder.

“Sweetheart, I know you’re excited but we should let them inside before drilling the two,” Shinichi said, Akane quickly moving aside to let the cold teens into the house. “Akira, how are you doing today?” Shinichi nodded towards the ravenette, Akira smiling back at him as Akane began swooning over a very bright red Sumire.

“I’m doing good, how are you Shinichi?” Akira responded, smiling as Akane began asking Sumire how they met, what they did today, how Akira was at cuddling. At the last one Sumire seemed on the brink of fainting from embarrassment so Akira, a smile on his face, wrapped his hand around her waist. Sumire looked over at Akira, panic in her eyes before seeing the warmth in Akira’s. Her body relaxed as he pulled her close, Akane practically swooning while Shinichi smiled. Before his wife could say anything more, Shinichi took a step forward.

“Food’s all ready, so let’s dig in!” Shinichi announced, his response being two large growls coming from Akira and Sumire. “I expected only one, but two? I’m glad I made a lot of curry tonight…” Shinichi said with a smile at the two teens as he turned towards the kitchen. Akane quickly motioned for the couple to go ahead of her, her smile growing as Akira nodded towards her and led Sumire after her father.

Taking their places at a fairly generic Chabudai with four zabuton around it, Akira could smell the curry from the pot at the center of the Chabudai. “I know you eat curry a lot, Akira, so I decided to make things a little differently today,” Shinichi informed Akira as he lifted the lid off the pot and gave everyone a ladleful of curry onto their plates, giving Akira and Sumire slightly more than him and Akane. After a quick “Thank you for the meal!” the four dug into the food. Immediately Akira was in love with the flavors; it was just the right amount of spice with an underlying sweetness to it. The two adults looked in awe as Akira and Sumire devoured their curry, their plates empty within a minute. 

“My, you two must have been hungry!” Akane exclaimed as she gave the two another serving, Akira nodding in response as he still felt his stomach growling. Before long the four were satisfied, all of the curry eaten. 

“So Akira, what did you two do today?” Shinichi questioned the teen, Akane instantly leaning forward with a very interested look in her eyes.

“Well for one we snuggled for a while,” Akira began as he saw the horrified look from Sumire and the gleeful expression on Akane’s face. “After that, I made us breakfast and we basked in each other’s presence.” Akira stopped, mentally skipping over the encounter with the Shadow Operative. “After that we went to Destinyland for the rest of the day,” Akira finished, nodding his head as he saw Sumire blushing wildly and Akane smiling happily at him.

“I’m so glad Sumire caught someone like you!” Akane said joyfully, Sumire looked both shocked and horrified at her mom’s words.

“M-om! I-I did not c-catch Akira!” Sumire protested, the other three laughing with Akira grabbing hold of her hand. “H-he was the one that helped me, actually…” Sumire trailed off, her parents laughter dying down as their faces softened in realization at what she meant.

“I’m just happy that I met her; she’s been the light of my world since the day she confessed and no one could make me happier,” Akira said to the parents, quickly changing the subject as everyone smiled at him including Sumire. 

The four talked for a while into the night, Akane demanding answers about Akira’s and Sumire’s relationship from Sumire as Akira and Shinichi watched Sumire attempt to keep up with her mother. After around an hour of small talk and Akane swooning over how Akira treats her daughter so sweetly, Shinichi and Akane got up to clean up the mess.

“It’s pretty late, so you two go upstairs and head to bed,” Shinichi called out from the kitchen. Akira checked his phone; it was 10 p.m when he realized that he didn’t have a change of clothes. Sumire also realized this and quickly and quietly asked her father if he had any spare clothes. In the same hushed tone he told her he had prepared some sweats and a long sleeved shirt for Akira just in case and it was on Sumire’s bed. Akira heard what he said and that’s when a thought crossed his mind.

“Is there a spare bedroom for me to u-” he began asking when he saw Sumire looking up at him expectantly and smiled. Shinichi and (unfortunately for Sumire) Akane also noticed Akira stopping short.

“You two are going to share the same bed?” Akane blurted out, her face breaking out into a smile as Sumire burned bright red yet again. Shinichi chuckled at his wife’s excitement as Akira quickly led Sumire away from being embarrassed by her mother any further. Finding his change of clothes, Akira went into the bathroom to change while Sumire changed in her room. When he was all done, Akira knocked on Sumire’s door.

“Come in,” came her timid voice from inside, and Akira pushed the door open to reveal Sumire’s room exactly as he remembered it; the painting of flowers on the wall above her dresser, her shelf of plants, a rack with an athletic jacket along with a pink and black brimmed hat on it. Her bed had white sheets on it with three pillows on it, the center one strawberries on it. 

Sumire was sitting atop her bed, a slight tint of pink on her face as she smiled nervously at Akira. She was wearing something similar to what she wore the previous night as she was in pink sweats and black and pink long sleeve shirt. She nervously looked down as Akira smiled back at her, making Akira smile more as he moved towards her.

“We already slept together once, silly,” Akira teased her as he sat down next to her, poking her forehead. She looked up to give him a pout before relaxing slightly.

“It’s just… this is the first time you’re in my room besides anything Phantom Thief related…” Sumire trailed off, the pink on her cheeks deepening from Akira’s words. Suddenly, he pulled her towards him as he lifted the blanket in one fell swoop, laying down on her bed. “Se-senpai!” she whisper yelled, a smirk forming on Akira’s face as he saw her face become beet red in embarrassment. However, she could feel Akira’s heart beating just as fast as hers which calmed her down slightly, his smile never wavering as she met his eyes. Akira pulled the covers back over them as Sumire snuggled up close to Akira’s warm body, feeling his breath over her head as she nestled into his chest.

“So warm…” she muttered to herself, her eyelids falling as he put his arms around her body. 

“Hey, do you want to go there again?” Akira asked, Sumire meeting his questioning gaze. She thought it over briefly before shaking her head.

“No, I want to spend the night with you here…” Sumire breathed out, reaching up to kiss Akira’s lips. She tried to back away but Akira held the kiss longer and Sumire melted in his arms. Finally Akira released the kiss and smiled at Sumire, eyes full of love for the girl in front of him, as she smiled in return. Bringing his hand up to Sumire’s head, Akira pulled her into him as his other arm wrapped around her body. Sumire didn’t resist as she hugged closely to Akira’s body, her eyes falling. “I love you, Akira…” she uttered as her eyes fully closed. Akira smiled at her, his own eyes drooping as he squeezed her ever so slightly.

“I love you too, my Sumi…” Akira whispered, falling asleep with Sumire in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait for this chapter(I know three days isn't long comparatively, but it was eating away at me). I actually felt slightly burnt out one night while writing but made the mistake of continuing to write, which resulted in me scrapping all my progress due to it being bad. But now I'm fully confident in this chapter and hope you all enjoy another 10k word chapter!


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New chapter coming to you! Huge thank you to Hyper Mutekei for beta reading this chapter, correcting any mistakes I made and generally helping me voice my thoughts on the rest of the story. As always, thank you all so much for continuing to read and hope you enjoy as this work comes to a close(soon tm).
> 
> Time to plug fics!  
> Royal Rivals by ShrugFace - https://archiveofourown.org/works/24695260/chapters/59683288
> 
> Renegade by Light_Sumire - https://archiveofourown.org/works/24782095/chapters/59926366
> 
> A game of Life and Death by muddak - https://archiveofourown.org/works/24855673/chapters/60129082
> 
> and one of my personal favorite:  
> Joker on Ice by SunsetHours(Tharon in the Sumi discord) - https://archiveofourown.org/works/24013726/chapters/57772423

“Mm…” Sumire stirred in her sleep, the light shining through her window hitting her face. She sleepily put her arm up in an attempt to cover her face, but the attempt to fall back asleep was in vain. With another groan, Sumire opened her eyes and let her arm fall back onto her bed. However, instead of it hitting the soft bed, her arm fell onto a head of hair next to her, causing her to squeak in surprise as she looked over at Akira staring at her, her arm now on his head. 

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Akira cooed, Sumire’s arm covering most of his face but she could see his sweet smile and loving gaze. A blush forming on her cheeks, Sumire quickly brought in her arm and tried to move away from Akira in embarrassment.

“I-I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, fear cracking through her voice. Before she could continue apologizing, however, Akira scooched himself closer to her until his nose barely grazed hers. Sumire tried to look away, her heart pounding in her chest from being so close to Akira, but Akira leaned forward. His lips met hers before she could move her head, a look of shock on Sumire’s face quickly melting into content as a warm feeling flowed through her body. Holding the kiss, Sumire wrapped her arms around Akira, her beloved doing the same as they sat in her bed with the sun shining on their faces.

Sumire was the one to break the kiss, pulling back to see Akira’s bright smile paired with even messier hair than normal. Both of their cheeks were rosy as they stared into each other's eyes, Sumire’s own crimson hair being ruffled from just waking up. However, she didn’t care; the comfort radiating from Akira’s eyes drove away any and all self-doubt before it even took root.    
  


As she opened her mouth to speak, a loud knocking was heard from her door. With a yelp, Sumire turned towards the still closed door, Akira smiling at her as Akane’s voice rang out from behind the door. “Sumire, Akira! Are you two awake yet?”

“Y-yes!” Sumire called back, her heart calming down as she felt Akira’s hand slide into hers. They heard Akane’s footsteps fading away before stopping.

“Oh, Akira! Sakura-san sent you a change of clothes last night, so I left them by the door when you’re ready!” Akane happily called out, her voice distant but Akira could still hear her clearly.

“Thank you, Mrs. Yoshiza-” Akira began before being cut off by quick footsteps and Sumire’s door opening, much to his girlfriend’s dismay.

“Sweetie, you’re practically family at this point,” Akane smiled at Akira, her eyes landing on Akira’s and Sumire’s hands interlocked. “Just call me Akane. Or mom, whatever you prefer!” Before Akira could respond Akane shut the door, leaving the couple stunned at what she just said. 

“M-mom!” Sumire shouted out, her face burning bright red from her mother’s teasing. Seeing her like that, Akira wanted to tease her more but his own heart was beating out of his chest. ‘Call her mom? Well, I guess it’ll come to that when I marry Sumire…’ Akira thought to himself, working through his emotions much quicker than Sumire. As he stared at her Akira saw her in a beautiful wedding dress in his mind’s eye and smiled; he couldn’t wait for that day.

“So-sorry about my mom, Akira-senpai…” Sumire muttered, her face still red from embarrassment.

“Don’t worry about it,” Akira replied, shaking his head as he stood up from the bed. “She’s right about two things, though.” Sumire tilted her head to the side, her blush dying down until it was barely noticeable.

“What’s that?”

“Well, we should go get dressed,” Akira said, walking towards Sumire’s door and grabbing the handle. “I texted everyone last night during our train ride back from Destinyland to see if they wanted to hang out at Leblanc, and everyone agreed to meet for lunch.”

“That sounds really fun!” Sumire happily exclaimed, getting up off the bed and moved towards her dresser. “Wait, what’s the other thing?” She immediately regretted asking the question as she turned to see Akira grinning.

“She will be my mom one day,” Akira said as he opened the door, quickly gathering the clothes Sojiro sent him and leaving Sumire alone as her heart fluttered and her face burning. Akira smiled to himself as he made his way to the bathroom to quickly change. 

Sumire was stunned, holding her clothes in her hand as she stared at the closed door. ‘Was he talking about marriage?’ she asked herself, her heart beating faster at the thought of marrying Akira. Shaking her head, Sumire looked down at the clothes in her hands: she was holding a plain white shirt with the sweater she wore on White Day earlier in the year along with the orange skit she matched with it. Smiling as she remembered that day, Sumire quickly changed and left her room, Akira waiting by the stairs for her. Sumire let out a small gasp as she saw him; he was wearing a white dress shirt with the top button unbuttoned, blue jeans along with a black suit coat.

“I really didn’t expect Sojiro to send me this…” Akira said as he noticed Sumire looking him up and down, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. 

“You look amazing, Senpai!” Sumire exclaimed just as Akira looked her up and down.

“It seems like we’re trying to recreate White Day,” Akira lightly chuckled to himself, his eyes resting on Sumire’s face. Sumire giggled with him as he reached his hand towards her to which she happily accepted it. “Let’s head downstairs. I wouldn’t want to make your parents wait any longer.” Sumire nodded, her and Akira walking hand in hand downstairs and into a large room where Shinichi and Akane sat. 

In it were two large couches set up in an L shape with a coffee table and a big flat-screen television set up at the other side of the room. Shinichi and Akane were watching the news just as Akira and Sumire entered in.

_ “...and some people reported that they saw two strange creatures in front of the bathroom at Destinyland!” _ Akira heard the reporter say as Shinichi turned off the television upon seeing the couple enter and internally winced. ‘We have to be more careful, I guess,’ he thought to himself, his smile towards Sumire’s parents masking his slight amount of panic.

“There’s our two lovebirds!” Akane exclaimed, her hands happily joining as she saw her daughter leaning into Akira ever so slightly with their hands still interlocked. Before Sumire could get embarrassed any further, Akira led her inside and sat at the edge of the couch away from her parents.

“How was last night, Akira?” Shinichi questioned the teen “I mean, did you sleep well?” he quickly added on upon hearing his wife snicker, fully realizing the implications of his first question. Akira smiled at them, holding back a laugh as Sumire stared at the three of them confused.

“I slept well, Shinichi,” Akira answered. The older man smiled back and nodded.

“I’m happy to hear that…” Shinichi paused for what seemed to be an eternity for Akira, turning towards the now shut off television. “From a member of the Phantom Thieves.” 

Akira froze in shock, the two adults staring directly at him while Sumire tightened her grasp on his hand. ‘How does he know that?’ Akira quickly thought to himself before the television blared on again, revealing him and Sumire flanking the perverted man from yesterday.

“Your identities are still safe due to the blurriness of this picture, but to us it was clear that it was you two,” Akane spoke up, her voice serious as she stared at Sumire. Akira quickly looked over to see a horrified look on Sumire’s face, tears welling up and decided he needed to explain.

“Please, don’t be mad at Sumire for this,” Akira interjected, both of Sumire’s parents staring at him now. “If anything, it’s my fault for getting her involved in the first place.” Shinichi’s face softened at this, especially seeing his daughter close to tears.

“We’re not mad at either one of you. We’re simply concerned for both of your health,” Shinichi calmly stated, staring deep into Akira’s honest eyes and smiled. “I’m assuming that you two are capable of far more than we are aware of, correct?” Akira nodded his head, not wanting to hide anything from Shinichi. “Well, if that’s the case then I doubt we can stop you two. The look in your eyes, Akira, tells me that you won’t hesitate to help others; am I correct in that assumption?” 

Again, Akira simply nodded. Shinichi chuckled to himself, Akane’s face also turning into a kind smile. “You sure are a special one, Akira. And Sumire, I know that you’re a strong, independent woman now, but please be careful,” Shinichi softly told his daughter, tears still in her eyes.

“I-I will, dad, mom,” Sumire muttered, the three smiling at her as Akira squeezed her hand in reassurance. His attention returned to Shinichi as he let out a small chuckle.

“To think, not only is my daughter dating a Phantom Thief but she is one as well,” Shinichi continued to chuckle to himself, shaking his head as he got up and moved towards the two teens. “Don’t worry you two; your secret is safe with us.” Shinichi leaned down and hugged the two Thieves, surprise on both their faces as Akane also moved over to join the hug.

The four held the hug for a minute before Shinichi and Akane let go, the two teens still shocked but bodies relaxed. “Thank you, Shinichi, Akane,” Akira said as he got up from his seat, bowing at the waist. Sumire stared in awe at her boyfriend; he never bowed to anyone in all the time she spent with him. Shinichi simply chuckled and waved him off.

“Please, I should be thanking you Akira,” Shinichi said, putting his hand on Akira’s shoulder as the teen stood straight. The confusion was clear on Akira’s face as Shinichi explained. “You’ve helped my daughter through so much, and I can only imagine even more than I know. Every time she’s with you or even when talking about you she's full of joy; as her parents, we can’t be happier.” Akane put her hand on Shinichi’s arm and smiled at Akira and Sumire, the latter moving up to stand next to the former and locking her hand with his. 

A sudden realization crossed Shinichi’s face as he pulled out his phone. “Hey, Sojiro told me that you’re supposed to be meeting at Leblanc at 12:00 p.m today, right?” he asked, staring at Akira.

“Yeah, what time is it?” Akira quickly responded.

“It’s 10:30 right now, so you two still have time,” Shinichi said. Akira let out a sigh of relief, to which Shinichi grinned at the young man in front of him. “Akira, if you wouldn’t mind, would you share some stories of your time as a Phantom Thief? I wish to understand your motives and how you went about stealing people’s hearts.” Akira looked at the man in shock; an internal debate within his mind sprung up as what, if anything, to tell Sumire’s parents.

_ “Just tell them, Akira,” _ Raoul echoed above Akira’s racing thoughts, instantly clearing his mind. “Alright, I’ll tell you as much as I can before we have to go,” Akira informed the two, nodding his head as all four sat back down onto the couch, everyone staring intently at Akira as he began with his arrest.

“That’s terrible!” Akane interjected after the story was over, fury clear on all three listeners' faces. Sumire could feel her blood boil; Akira had never told her the full story and hearing how Shido treated him as a lesser being made her glad she wasn’t with them during the fight or she might have done something she would regret. 

Akira, seeing the anger on all their faces, quickly pushed on, telling Sumire’s parents about life at Shujin, Kamoshida, and a brief description of the Metaverse. There was instant confusion on their faces as he mentioned “traveling to another world” and “personas”, so instead of explaining further, he focused on his evoker. His clothes quickly changed into his Thief outfit much to the surprise of Shinichi and Akane.

“H-how did you do that?” Akane exclaimed, curiosity quickly overtaking the confusion and fear in her eyes as she saw Akira was okay. 

“Basically, whenever we would enter into this other world, these people; “palace rulers”, we would call them, would see us as threats, and their distortions would try and eliminate us. This is a defense against them,” Akira plainly told the stunned parents, who quickly turned to Sumire.

“Can you do that too, Sumire?” Shinichi asked. Sumire smiled and nodded, her own evoker glowing as her clothes transformed as well. The two parents were completely stunned, their eyes darting from Akira to Sumire. Satisfied with the demonstration, Akira relaxed, his evoker dulling and returning to his normal clothes with Sumire doing the same.

“You wanted to know the reason I became a Phantom Thief,” Akira began, Shinichi and Akane shaking off their stunned expressions as they leaned forward. “I would say it’s because of my innate desire to help others in trouble mixed with my disdain for those that take advantage of the weak and helpless. That is why I’m a Phantom Thief. That’s why I fought against all those horrible people.” The parents stared at Akira in stunned silence before smiling.

“I should have figured it would have been something as selfless as that,” Shinichi chuckled to himself, slowly clapping his hands as he leaned back into the couch. “To think the one who took down people like Madarame and even Shido would be dating my daughter is something I never expected.” As he finished, Shinichi took out his phone and his eyes lit up as he turned his attention back to Akira and Sumire. “It’s currently 11:30, so we should get going you two.” Akira and Sumire both nodded, getting up from the couch together as Shinichi went to get his jacket. Just as the young couple were heading out of the room, Akane took a step in front of them, staring directly into Akira’s eyes.

“You better be careful, okay?” Akane asked, a serious and demanding look in her eyes. Akira stared unblinkingly back at her and smiled.

“I promise, nothing will happen to Su-” he began, but Akane only got closer to him.

“No, I’m talking to you, Akira. Please; don’t do anything reckless.” Akane’s eyes were boring into Akira’s skull. The former Thief leader’s eyes slowly brightened with realization and he nodded his head, his face serious as Sumire only stared at her boyfriend and mother in surprise. She had only seen her mother this serious when Kasumi died; the memory of her mother’s pain at losing Kasumi made Sumire’s chest tighten and she took a step towards her mother.

“Mom, I promise I won’t let Akira do anything that would put him at risk,” Sumire reassured her mother, who moved her attention to her daughter. Both Akira and Akane looked at Sumire in shock before Akira lightly chuckled.

“Hey, I’m not planning on doing anything stupid now,” he said defensively, a small smile on his face. Akane was about to respond just as they heard Shinichi come back downstairs.

“Hey you two! We need to go now or you’ll be late!” Shinichi called from the front door. Akira took a look back at Akane who simply smiled back at him. He flashed a reassuring smile back at her before jogging towards the front door, Sumire’s hand in his as Shinichi opened the door for them. All three of them quickly climbed into the car and Shinichi took off for Leblanc.

An air of awkwardness hung around the three as they sat in silence, Sumire holding tight onto Akira’s hand. Stopping at a red light, Shinichi let out a sigh and looked back at the couple.

“I know Akane talked to you two, and I trust you Akira, but I do want you to stay safe,” Shinichi said, the same serious look in his eyes as his wife’s from earlier. Akira felt a pit drop in his stomach; he hated making people worry about him, but he also knew that he couldn’t just ignore anyone in trouble.

“I swear to you, Shinichi, that I’ll stay safe,” Akira responded, the feeling of unease still resting in his stomach. Sumire looked at him and saw the same determined look in her boyfriend’s eyes, but also something else that she couldn’t identify. As she opened her mouth to ask him about it, Akira looked over and gave her a reassuring smile. “I’ll be okay, Sumi,” he spoke softly, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. Sumire could only nod, her words getting stuck in her throat as she shyly nodded back at Akira.

The rest of the car ride went by in relative silence, with Shinichi making some small talk with Akira while Sumire was stuck in her thoughts. In five minutes, Shinichi pulled up to the curb where he dropped off Sumire’s clothes two nights ago. “I’ll see you two later, okay?” Shinichi called out as Akira and Sumire got out of the car. 

“Sounds good, Shinichi!” Akira called back, giving the older man a thumbs up and a genuine smile. Shinichi returned the gesture, but Akira could still see a hint of worry in the man’s eyes as he drove off. ‘They really are good parents,’ Akira thought to himself before stopping in his tracks. ‘Parents, huh?’ Images of his own parents flashed through his mind, but the memories were nothing short of painful as he remembered them always saying they were busy with work, barely paying attention to him during middle-school, and not even showing any ounce of care when he left for probation. When he came back earlier in the year they didn’t even bother asking him about his time in Tokyo; it was as if he was seen as a person who lived in their house instead of their son.

Akira grit his teeth; they didn’t love him, and haven’t for a while. The only ones that showed parental love were Sojiro and now Sumire’s parents, but he still loved his parents. Despair quickly set in as Akira gripped his heart, the pain of the realization being too much for him.

“Akira! Are you okay?” Sumire shouted, placing her hands on his shoulder and back to stabilize him. She could see tears beginning to form in his eyes as he looked up at her and attempted to smile. However, after seeing the worry on Sumire’s face, Akira broke down and threw himself in her arms.

“Why… why don’t they love me, Sumi?” Akira sobbed in the shocked girl’s shoulder. Sumire’s face scrunched up slightly in confusion, her mind cycling through everyone he could know until it landed on the obvious answer. She felt a pit form in her stomach as she tightened her grasp around Akira, feeling his tears hit her shoulder; she truly didn’t know how to respond, but she needed to say something.

“I don’t know, Akira,” Sumire attempted to make her voice as soft as possible, attempting to mask her anger at as best she could. “But what I do know is that there are people that love and care for you, including my parents now.” Akira’s sobs began to slow down at Sumire’s words, now being replaced by Akira’s sniffling. Sumire put her hands on Akira’s shoulders and pushed him back to stare into his eyes; they were red and puffy as he stared back. “Akira, I love you more than the world itself. I will stand by your side until the very end; no matter what anyone says, my love for you will never change.” 

Akira’s eyes filled with a mixture of emotions: sadness, surprise, but also happiness and relief. He let a smile creep onto his face as he gently pulled Sumire back into a hug, holding her tight. “Thank you, Sumire,” he whispered, before pulling back again. “I don’t know what I would do without you.” Akira reached his hand to wipe away his tears, but Sumire reached up first towards his face with a soft smile. 

“But I am here, so we don’t need to think about the ‘What Ifs’, okay?” she gently asked as she lightly kissed Akira on the lips. A warm feeling rushed through Akira as she pulled away from the kiss, smiling up at him just as another realization hit him. He pulled out his phone; it was 12:05. Surprise flashed on his face as Akira quickly wiped away the rest of his tears and, grabbing Sumire’s hand, began running towards Leblanc. Sumire instantly knew that they were late, and quickly found her footing to run beside Akira.

“We’re here!” Akira announced as he burst through Leblanc’s door, familiar faces shooting over to him and Sumire. The Thieves were all sitting in the booths with Sojiro and Sae sitting at the bar; everyone was staring at the two late entries as they caught their breath.

“Well, look at these two lovebirds; showing up late like they own the place,” Sojiro jokingly scoffed, grinning at the two, now embarrassed, teens. His eyes went from Sumire, who was holding Akira’s hand, to Akira when he noticed tear streaks on the teen’s face. He opened his mouth, but Akira shot him a look that said “We’ll talk about it later.”. Sojiro slightly nodded, turning around towards the coffee maker as Akira and Sumire made their way to the center booth. 

“What the hell took you so long, man?” Ryuji blurted out, only to be slapped by Ann next to him.

“Ryuji!” she yelled at him as he groaned in pain. Akira smiled at the two as he looked around at all of his friends.

“Sorry about that, guys. Just got caught up talking with Sumi’s parents,” Akira said, his voice cracking ever so slightly at the word “parents” but no one seemed to notice.

“What, are you trying to rub it in that you have a girlfriend?” Ryuji muttered to himself, wincing as Ann threatened him with another slap. Everyone ignored the two blondes, with Yusuke leaning over Ryuji and staring directly at Sumire holding onto Akira’s arm and finger framing the two. Akira noticed this and sighed.

“Yusuke, do you want to draw us?” Akira asked, an exasperated undertone in his voice. Sumire looked up at Akira, confusion on her face before looking at Yusuke and realized what was going on. Her face lit up, but she continued holding onto Akira and actually getting slightly closer to him.

“Not draw, exactly,” Yusuke responded, to which everyone frowned in confusion. “What I mean by that is that I’ve been taking lessons in sculpting to expand my artist's eye. Akira and Sumire, will you be the first ones to pose for one of my sculptures?” As Yusuke finished, Akira and Sumire’s mouth hung wide open at his request. Akira corrected himself quickly, but Sumire began to sputter out a response, her cheeks growing a deeper shade of red. Everyone smiled at her as she soon realized what she was saying wasn’t making any sense, so instead, she looked pleading up at Akira and nodded her head.

“I think we have your answer, Yusuke,” Akira said, turning his attention from Sumire towards a hopeful Yusuke. “As long as we’re not doing anything “weird”, we’ll do it.”

“Wonderful, Akira!” Yusuke exclaimed, the joy on his face.“Yes… this shall be my Magnum Opus, the piece that defines me as an artist. To truly capture what is love; that is the goal of this art piece!” Yusuke began to laugh, slowly at first but quickly turning into crazed laughter.

“Let’s just leave him be for now,” Makoto told the group, shaking her head as Yusuke continued laughing in glee. “By the way, Akira, have you figured out where you want to go to college?” she asked, everyone quickly turning their eyes to the teen in question.

“Hmm…” Akira put his hand to his chin, closing his eyes to think. “I’ve been accepted into two colleges, The University of Kyoto and The University of Tokyo. Both have their ups and downs; Kyoto offered me a full ride for their political science major while Tokyo is only offering me a significant scholarship,” Akira thought aloud, his friends and lover all leaning forward for his answer. Akira opened his eyes to see them all staring at him, including Yusuke, who had calmed down and was leaning forward again over Ryuji. Akira felt each and every one of their expectant gazes as he weighed the pros and cons, and his mind landed on his parents again. ‘They would want me to stay closer to home, so Kyoto would be bett-wait, would they?’ his mind raced, Akira’s eyes widening as his heart began to ache again. 

“Akira, what’s wrong?” Sae asked, seeing the teen progressively get more distressed, tears beginning to form in the corners of Akira’s eyes. Sumire squeezed Akira’s hand even more, her kind eyes meeting his watery ones. 

“M-my p-p-pa…” Akira tried to say, but his throat closed as tears rolled down his face. Sojiro knew what he was about to say and stood up from his seat, drawing everyone’s attention as he walked over to Akira. He stood right above Akira, his usually hard eyes soft with love as he bent down and hugged the crying teen. Akira’s heart nearly stopped at the action; Sojiro never gave anyone, besides Futaba, physical affection.

“Akira, I want you to know that you’re like a son to me,” Sojiro began, realization hitting everyone’s faces from the one-sentence while Akira felt his throat tighten even more. “I don’t know why your parents would treat you, such a kindhearted young man, like this, but you will always have a place to stay with me.” Akira’s tears were freely falling from his eyes now as he let out a big sob, slowly putting his arms around Sojiro. Sumire watched as Sojiro calmed Akira down, a sad smile on her face at the sight of fatherly love.Everyone else looked on, a mix of sadness and happiness on their faces as Akira’s tears slowly stopped. 

After what felt like an eternity, Akira let go of Sojiro and looked around to see everyone’s soft smiles directed towards him. He didn’t bother to wipe away his tears; this was something that he needed to get out, and he didn’t want to hide his feelings away any longer. “Thank you, everyone,” Akira said, his throat sore but allowing him to speak now. “I knew deep down that my parents didn’t care for me, especially after the Shido incident, but I didn’t want to slow us down so I buried it deep down inside myself. But, thanks to that realization, I’ve made up my mind: I’m going to study at The University of Tokyo.” Akira’s face glowed with determination, his eyes still sparkling with tears as he looked at the faces around him turn to joy.

“For real? I’m gonna be running for them, dude!” Ryuji shouted, standing up from the table in excitement. “Dude, we could room together!” Akira looked up at Ryuji and beamed up at him.

“Sounds good to me, Ryuji!” Akira exclaimed, his voice wavering slightly still as he shakily got to his feet. Sojiro moved back as he did so, everyone staring at the two friends as Akira held out his fist. Ryuji grinned back at him as they bumped fists; Akira felt the Chariot Arcana crackle with energy deep within himself, causing a flash of yellow to flash in his eyes. Ryuji’s grin became even wider as he saw the flash of light, feeling his own powers return momentarily as he held the fist bump.

“Alright man, let me know where you want to dorm and we’ll apply toget-” Ryuji began as a loud crash followed by numerous screams came from outside interrupted him. Akira’s and Sumire’s evokers instantly flashed on, Akira’s face becoming deathly serious as the two ran towards Leblanc’s door.

“Ryuji, Yusuke, come with us!” Akira commanded, a flash of blue flames surrounding Ryuji, Yusuke, and Sumire as red surrounded Akira, all of them getting into their Thief clothes. Everyone besides Akira and Sumire stood in shock as Ryuji and Yusuke stared down at themselves. “We don’t have time! The rest of you stay here and make sure Sojiro and Sae stay safe!” Akira’s eyes flashed a dark red as the rest of the Thieves felt their physical strength from the Metaverse fill them, their clothes staying the same. 

Akira flung the door open, Sumire right next to him with Ryuji and Yusuke not far behind as they ran towards the screams. They came from the adjacent alleyway, and Akira and Sumire’s evokers glowed bright red and white respectively, their personas appearing above them as the four slid into the alleyway. Six shadows stood in the center of the alleyway slowly walking towards the four Thieves, but they weren’t like anything Akira had ever seen. They were all humanoids clad in black armor sitting atop a legless, floating horse in the same armor. ‘The hell are these things?’ Akira thought as he quickly took in the situation.

_ “Akira, we should mask our presence!” _ Raoul shouted within Akira upon seeing the bystanders pulling out their phones. 

“It’s showtime!” Akira shouted, snapping his fingers with Raoul doing the same; darkness instantly surrounded the four Thieves and the shadows. The shadows’ eyes glowed red as they charged at the four, Ryuji and Yusuke ripping off their masks with their personas appearing in front of them. The three waited for Akira’s orders, but instead, the teen charged towards the six shadows, Paradise Lost falling from his sleeve as he drove it into one of the shadow’s chest, instantly disintegrating from the impact of the blade.

“Let’s go!” Sumire shouted, her Sword of Sinai glittering as she dashed forward towards a shadow. Ryuji and Yusuke looked at each other before nodding, charging right behind Sumire.

“Get ‘em, William!” Ryuji commanded, the persona slamming into a shadow before discharging a point-blank electric blast. The shadow seemed to take damage from the initial attack, but the electricity healed it.

“Skull, get down!” Yusuke yelled out as Gorokichi sliced at a shadows chest that was charging at Ryuji. The attack sent the shadow flying backward into a shadow Akira was rushing towards; the thief leader had a demonic grin on his face.

_ ‘Yes, Akira! Let’s cause some bloodshed!’  _ Akechi roared within Akira, black energy surrounding Akira as he felt his mind slipping. Sumire noticed this and, despite the situation, smiled; it seemed like Akechi was helping out. She impaled one of the shadows with her blade, then jumped away with her eyes flashing white. Ella dove towards the near-dead shadow and, with grace, stuck it twice with her power-infused legs. 

The last four shadows flew into the air and clumped together, gathering pure energy as they pulled back their lances and positioning downwards towards the Thieves. “Shit, here they come!” Ryuji shouted, preparing himself for the giant attack. Just as the four shadows were about to unleash their attack, a quick whizzing sound rang above the battle as Akira’s grapple stuck in one of the shadows. Without missing a beat, Akira shot up towards the four shadows which were now directing the attack at the approaching Thief. Just as the energy was about to hit him, Raoul rocketed in front of Akira and deflected the attack back at the shadows. The reflected attack ripped through two of the shadows just as Akira released his grapple from the shadow, flying into the sky above the two remaining. He flipped around mid-air and pointed his Tyrant Pistol down at the shadows. Before they could react, two giant holes formed in their heads, smoke billowing from the barrel of the demonic pistol. Akira holstered his gun as he fell back to earth, Raoul gliding towards him and catching him on his back.

“Incredible…” Yusuke breathed out as Raoul gently floated back to the ground, Akira riding on his back. The teen jumped off, returning Raoul back into his soul along with the darkness surrounding them. Before the darkness fully dispersed, the four Thieves all returned to their normal clothes as well as Akira muttering “Makajamaon”. As the last of the darkness faded, people were seen walking peacefully around the four and in the surrounding streets. Akira let out a sigh of relief just as he heard clapping behind him. The four spun around and Akira’s eyes widened: it was Mitsuru, Aigis, and two new people he never met. However, Sumire gasped as she laid her eyes on a short, brown-haired woman standing beside Mitsuru.

“Oh my god! Are you Yukari Takeba? The actress who plays Feather Pink?” Sumire asked excitedly, seemingly forgetting the fight that just happened as she happily bounded up towards the shocked woman. Mitsuru, Aigis, and the other person, a young man wearing a cyan jacket and pants with a black shirt underneath, all smiled at the woman Sumire identified as Yukari.

“U-uh, y-yes I am!” Yukari stuttered, wincing slightly at the squeal that came from Sumire. However, her attention shifted from Sumire to Akira as the teen walked forward, a slight frown on his face.

“Mitsuru-san, are these people part of the Shadow Operatives?” Akira questioned, shock crossing Yukari’s and the other man’s faces as confusion crossed Ryuji’s and Yusuke’s. Mitsuru looked around them, and Akira knew what she was about to ask immediately, so he took Sumire’s hand and began moving towards Leblanc. “Here, let’s head inside. Everyone else is in there, though, so you’ll have to explain from the beginning in there.” Mitsuru nodded, everyone except for Sumire and Aigis looking confused as the four walked towards Leblanc. 

“Come on, you guys!” Mitsuru shouted behind her; the four-shot up to attention and quickly followed behind them.

“Akira, what happened out the- who are these guys?” Morgana exclaimed on the table, cutting himself off as he saw Mitsuru, Aigis, Yukari, and the other man enter into Leblanc.

“It’s alright; they’re allies,” Akira reassured everyone, but their expressions still said they didn’t believe.

“Akira-kun, did you just talk with that cat?” Mitsuru questioned, a brief flash of confusion crossing her face before she corrected herself. 

“It’s a long story,” Akira turned his face and smirked at the redhead, who only smirked back. 

“I’ll take your word then. Now, to address your concerns: I am Mitsuru Kirjo, this is Aigis,” Mitsuru pointed towards the robotic girl next to her, Aigis bowing towards the Thieves. “And these two are Yukari Takeba and Junpei Iori.” As Mitsuru motioned towards the two adults, realization crossed Futaba’s face.

“Yes, she’s Feather Pink, Futaba,” Akira interjected before the girl could say anything. “We don’t have time to focus on that right now. Misturu-san, if you would continue.”

“Gladly,” Mitsuru nodded towards Akira. “We are part of a special section of the police: the Shadow Operatives. Aigis and I, along with two other people, work full time to detect and deal with any abnormality dealing with shadows and persona-users. These two,” she paused, motioning back towards Junpei and Yukari, “are part of the Auxillary team due to them living their own lives. I have already met with Akira-kun and Sumire-san once before to give them their evokers,” Mitsuru paused again as Akira and Sumire showed off their sleek evokers to the stunned Thieves and two adults, “but sensed powerful shadows appearing in reality here.” As Mitsuru finished, Junpei leaned over to Yukari.

“Jeez, does she have to give these kids the full lecture?” he whispered. However, not quiet enough as Mitsuru gave him an icy glare. Junpei straightened his back as Yukari put her hand to her face, letting out a sigh. 

‘Heh, just like Makoto and Ryuji,’ Akira thought to himself, smirking at the similar dynamics before making his face return to normal as Mitsuru turned to face him.

“Akira-kun, I’m glad that you dealt with those shadows,” Mitsuru bowed towards the teen, who simply smiled at her and waved his hand dismissively in front of him.

“It’s not like I could just ignore it,” Akira replied nonchalantly, shrugging as Mitsuru straightened her back and smiled at him.

“I’m glad that you’re upholding your part of the deal then,” Mitsuru said with Akira nodding at her. “Despite the darkness you put up, I still saw the power you demonstrated while fighting; very impressive, Akira-kun.”

“If I may, Misturu-san,” Aigis suddenly spoke up, everyone’s attention turning to her as she faced Akira. “We would like to understand how and why those shadows appeared in reality. Akira-san, would you have an idea for why that is?”

“Hmm…” Akira stroked his chin in thought, closing his eyes. 

“May I interject for a moment?” a voice called out at the entrance of Leblanc, causing everyone to turn to see the newcomer. The newcomer was a short silver-haired woman wearing a tint of blue Akira was all too familiar with. Everyone was speechless at her sudden appearance, their shock only growing deeper as Akira took a step forward towards her.

“Would you be Elizabeth?” Akira asked, everyone’s eyes shooting between him and the woman, who smiled and nodded her head.

“Ah, I’m sure you must have met with my master,” Elizabeth said, reaching out her hand towards Akira. Continuing to surprise everyone, Akira shook it without question, staring directly into Elizabeth’s yellow eyes as he nodded his own head. “Ah, as expected! Either way, I know the cause of that vicious shadow attack.” Elizabeth let go of Akira’s hand as everyone suddenly became very interested, their looks of confusion fading away.

“And what would that be?” Mitsuru asked cautiously before realization crossed her face. “Wait, you’re that woman we met so long ago!” Elizabeth nodded her head again as she turned towards Aigis.

“We meet again, the holder of the wild card,” Elizabeth gave Aigis a smile, the robotic girl smiling in return. 

“Wait, you’re a wild card user as well Aigis?” Akira asked, taken aback at the sudden news. Aigis turned towards him and smiled.

“It’s a long story, Akira-san. Perhaps I shall tell you another time,” Aigis responded. Akira stood there shocked just as Elizabeth turned her attention back towards him.

“Now, Akira Kurusu, the second holder of the Universe Arcana, I request that you come with me,” Elizabeth said bluntly. Everyone looked taken aback from all the information she dumped on them at once, but Sumire spoke up.

“Why do you need him specifically?” she questioned, a hint of hostility towards the woman.

“It is because of his power; it is identical - no, even stronger than Minato’s power. You are the only one that can save him,” Elizabeth finished, a calm look on her face as the four Shadow Ops members dealt with numerous emotions running across their faces.

“We can save him?” Yukari blurted out, the four staring directly at Elizabeth while everyone else blinked in stunned confusion, Akira especially confused.

“Wait wait wait,” he began, shaking his head at Elizabeth. “First of all, similar powers? Secondly; save him? Finally, what makes you think I’ll readily accept? I made a promise that I fully intend to ke-” Akira continued, beginning to feel his blood boil as everything began to shake around them.

“Wh-what’s going on?” Haru asked, fear clear in her voice and on her face.

“I’m afraid we don’t have much time; Erebus is growing stronger as we speak and will soon have the power to break through the Great Seal,” Elizabeth quickly said as the shaking stopped. “If it does, the world will be destroyed. I will ask one more time; come with me, Akira Kurusu.”

Elizabeth outstretched her hand towards Akira, who hesitated for once in his life. His eyes widened as he felt Sumire’s hand snake into his own and saw her reassuring smile as he looked over at her. His resolve strengthened knowing she was okay with it, and he suddenly thought of something.

“Elizabeth, can we bring people with us?” Akira asked, the Thieves and Shadow Ops staring at him intently.

“Yes you can. However, I am limited to transporting three others with myself, so you can only bring two others with you,” Elizabeth quickly added on as she noticed Akira’s face lighten up.

“Sumire, are you okay com-” Akira began.

“Of course I am!” Sumire exclaimed, cutting off Akira before he could finish. Before Akira could turn to the rest of the Thieves, Aigis took a step forward.

“Akira-san, may I come along as well?” Aigis asked; Akira could see a fierce, determined look in her eyes as he looked back at her. “This person is very dear to me, and I wish to help them in any way I can.” Akira looked at her and then back at the Thieves, torn between the two just as Ryuji gave him a huge grin.

“We’ll be fine sitting this one out, Akira!” Ryuji exclaimed, giving Akira a thumbs up.

“Right! Go do what you have to do!” Ann added on.

“It pains me, but if we must part ways then so be it,” Yusuke said with a sullen smile.

“Akira… please, be safe out there,” Makoto told the teen.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine, Akira!” Futaba excitedly exclaimed.

“I wholeheartedly believe in you, leader!” Haru bounced up in her seat as she pumped her fist into the air.

“Give whatever this Erebus creature is hell, partner! We’ll watch over Sojiro and Sae, so don’t worry about us!” Morgana yelled into the cafe, Sojiro and Sae smiling at him before turning towards Akira.

“Akira, it appears that you have to save us yet again. Are you okay?” Sae questioned the teen.

“Yeah, but even if I wasn’t this is something that I need to do,” Akira slammed his fist into his palm; he felt Akechi begin to grow excited within him.

“Kid, you never cease to amaze me. Just… make sure you come back safe, okay?” Sojiro asked, his cracking voice betraying the calm facade he held. Akira stared at the older man before walking over to him and giving him a quick hug.

“I promise to you… dad,” Akira paused before finally landing on the word “dad”, causing Sojiro to freeze as Akira let go. Everyone smiled at them as Akira made his way back towards Elizabeth, tears forming in Sojiro’s eyes that he quickly wiped away.

“Are you prepared, you three?” Elizabeth questioned, reaching her hand out towards Akira and Aigis. The two wildcard holders nodded and took her hand; Akira looked over to Sumire and held out his hand, Aigis doing the same. Sumire looked at the two, nodding her head as she took a deep breath and grabbed both of them. In an instant, Elizabeth’s eyes flashed blue as blue flames engulfed the four, quickly dispersing to reveal empty space where they just were.

“Please, for Minato’s sake and the world, be safe, Akira,” Mitsuru breathed out as she stared at the now empty space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter is out, and we're reaching the end of this story! Huge thanks to HyperMutekei for beta reading this chapter and helping me work through my thought process. As always, I appreciate you all reading and hope you'll enjoy the ending ark of this story!
> 
> Plugging fic time(cause I forgot to do it the last couple of chapters):  
> Renegade by Light_Sumire - https://archiveofourown.org/works/24782095/chapters/59926366
> 
> A game of Life and Death by muddak - https://archiveofourown.org/works/24855673/chapters/60129082
> 
> Royal Rivals: The Quartet by ShrugFace - https://archiveofourown.org/works/24695260/chapters/59683288
> 
> and just a personal favorite of mine  
> Joker on Ice - https://archiveofourown.org/works/24013726/chapters/57772423


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HUGE thank you to the people in the Church of Kasumi discord. Not only are they some of the nicest people, but they all have amazing fics(most of which you have probably read). Either way, I want to thank them all in the only way I know how; shout outs.
> 
> VitaminLuce:  
> A Birthday Well Spent - https://archiveofourown.org/works/23762923/chapters/57076690  
> Wistful Dreams - https://archiveofourown.org/works/24296992/chapters/58568461
> 
> muddak:  
> A game of Life and Death - https://archiveofourown.org/works/24855673/chapters/60129082
> 
> MrzGrumpy:  
> Echo of the Forgotten - https://archiveofourown.org/works/24981250/chapters/60478747
> 
> DigitalKing21:  
> Fool's protection - https://archiveofourown.org/works/24422587/chapters/58920343
> 
> RainyDays (SunsetHours), SunsetHours (I know him as Tharon):  
> Joker on Ice - https://archiveofourown.org/works/24013726/chapters/57772423
> 
> whenyouwriteinbed:  
> Recollections of Your Heart - https://archiveofourown.org/works/23855620/chapters/57335611
> 
> Light_Sumire:  
> Renegade - https://archiveofourown.org/works/24782095/chapters/59926366
> 
> Asphaow:  
> Retribution of the Trickster - https://archiveofourown.org/works/24405181/chapters/58872412
> 
> Hawkright01121999(All you know this guy):  
> Rig the Game Royal - https://archiveofourown.org/works/23699164/chapters/56901121
> 
> ShrugFace:  
> Royal Rivals: The Quartet - https://archiveofourown.org/works/24695260/chapters/59683288
> 
> MonkKind:  
> The Future of Royal - https://archiveofourown.org/works/23806528/chapters/57196321
> 
> chair2:  
> Unyielding Faith - https://archiveofourown.org/works/24763723/chapters/59875639

As the blinding light faded away, Akira took a look around him with a gasp escaping from Sumire beside him. As he looked over at her, Akira noticed that his feet weren’t on solid ground but instead they were surrounded by the blackness of what Akira assumed to be space. “What the hell?” Akira whispered as his entire body froze, fearing that any movement would cause him to fall.

“Do not worry, Akira-san, Sumire-san,” Aigis' voice reached them both, the couple realizing in tandem that the four were still holding hands. Turning their faces towards her, Akira and Sumire let go of Elizabeth’s and Aigis’ hands at the same time while still holding each other’s. “Even though it appears we are floating, this is solid ground beneath u-” Aigis continued just as a roar echoed around the four, cutting her off. The two Thieves looked around, shock and confusion on their faces while Aigis and Elizabeth looked downwards, grim looks in their eyes. Then Akira finally laid his eyes on the source of the noise: a giant beast made of a black, smokey substance with two demonic heads with the same smoke billowing from its red eyes on both sides of its body far off in the distance. The creature didn’t seem to notice the four, instead letting out another roar as it reached its giant hand up towards a golden door far away from the four.

“Wait, is that…?” Akira breathed out as his eyes landed on where the creature's hand was heading; he saw a giant statue of a young man, his arms outstretched over the golden door with bindings holding him up.

“Yes, that is the other holder of the Universe Arcana: Minato Arisato,” Elizabeth said, grief clear in her voice as she saw the monster try and rip Minato off the door. However, black smoke billowed from the other head, masking its entire body along with the giant golden door. 

“Minato!”Aigis shouted out, reaching out her hand as the black smoke obstructed her view. Akira saw the distress on the girl’s face, but her eyes were also filled with determination. Letting a small smile on his face, he squeezed Sumire’s hand a little more, only to have her reciprocate the gesture. Akira could feel a similar bond coming from Aigis directed towards Minato that he shared with Sumire.

“We should go,” Akira calmly stated, turning on his heels with Sumire’s hand still in his and began walking towards a set of translucent stairs. The other two followed closely behind the couple as the four began the trek up the stairs, numerous platforms lying ahead of them towards the monster and Minato. “By the way, Elizabeth, what was that monster?” Akira asked, looking over as Aigis and Elizabeth caught up to him and Sumire and were walking next to them.

“It’s name is Erebus,” Elizabeth uttered, her voice heavy with a mixture of emotions. “It is the amalgamation of humanity’s grief, of their pain, of their sorrow. It is the creature that, if left alone, would make contact with Nyx and bring about the end of the world.” Upon hearing its name, Akira winced slightly, no one catching it as he straightened his face as the four continued their ascent.

“End of the world?” Sumire gasped, fear crossing her eyes as the four reached the first platform. Elizabeth and Aigis both nodded at the same time, with Elizabeth motioning for Aigis to speak.

“Yes, the end of the world,” Aigis confirmed. “So long ago we fought against Nyx, a being of death that nearly ended humanity. In the end, Minato sacrificed himself to protect us by becoming the Great Seal, holding back Erebus from ever making contact with Nyx.” Tears were beginning to form in Aigis’ eyes, despair clear on her face. Sumire’s face softened as she let go of Akira’s hand and began to walk towards the robotic girl, but Aigis’ eyes flashed suddenly and she took up a defensive position with her hands outstretched and her fingertips retracting.

Akira and Sumire spun around to see numerous black clouds billowing not too far from them in the center of the translucent platform they stood on. Elizabeth calmly turned just as the clouds burst, revealing ten shadows that, again, Akira had never seen before. It was then that Akira realized that he and Sumire were in their Thief outfit, Akira without his mask on while Sumire still had hers. 

‘What the hell are these things?’ Akira’s mind raced as he took note of the shambling shadows in front of him: three whites hands with blue masks at their stubs, three tables with a multi color tablecloth draped over them along with numerous objects floating above, including a sword and chalice, and three towering white shadows wearing a jester-like cap with two giant hands wrapped around them. However, it was the shadow in the middle that caught Akira’s attention: a shambling body with multiple arms carrying sharp swords and the center holding up a mask with the roman numeral for “one”.

“That’s impossible!” Aigis suddenly exclaimed as the shadows fully found their footing, beginning to make their way towards the four.

“You may have defeated the Arcana Shadows once before, but they are the pieces of death; due to humanity’s wish growing ever stronger, they have been reborn with even greater power!” Elizabeth responded as she manifested a compendium in her left hand with the death arcana floating in front of her. With a swipe of her hand, the Arcana card shattered and an intense red light surrounded the area in front of her. The other three stared in awe as a massive persona formed in front of the velvet room attendant, a wicked grin plastered on the persona’s white face with numerous coffins floating just shy off it’s back.

“Go, Thanatos!” Elizabeth’s voice rang out just as the shadows dove towards the four. In seemingly no time at all, the persona named Thanatos shot forward, grabbed one of the hands and crushed it in it’s hand. Akira shook his head as Thanatos roared over the puddle of black blood, his eyes burning bright with determination.

“Let’s go!” Akira announced, Akechi within him beginning to laugh maniacally as Akira felt a new power beginning to form deep within the sea of souls. A wild grin crossed his face as his evoker glowed a deep red. “Raoul!” Akira shouted out as Paradise Lost slid down into his right hand. Dashing forward, Akira cleanly sliced through another one of the hands, black blood splattering onto the ground as Raoul formed right above the hand and, with his palm directed at the shadow, sent a miniscule amount of dark red Almighty energy into it. The shadow disintegrated into nothingness, Raoul’s attack destroying it completely.

“Look o-” Sumire began as she noticed one of the tables about to fire an ice attack at Akira. However, as she was ripping off her mask, Sumire saw Akira duck, dodging the icy blast while firing three bullets into the table with his Tyrant Pistol. The shadow fell over, still not quite dead just as Raoul crushed it underneath his heel, causing it to burst into black blood. Awestruck at Akira’s power, Sumire lightly shook her head as Ella fully formed beside her, her mask off her face. “Masquerade!” Sumire shouted, throwing her right arm out with her evoker burning white and pointing towards another one of the tables focusing on Akira. With grace, Ella danced through the air and, pure energy surrounding her legs, sliced twice straight through the shadow. The shadows burst into a puddle of black sludge, but before Sumire could have Ella dodge one of the shadows wearing a jester cap hit her persona with a fireball.

“Sumire-san!” Aigis called out as she saw the redhead stumble backwards with Ella flying backwards. The robotic girl focused inward and chose Surt, the fire giant appearing in front of her. “Go!” The persona went onto its feet and dove forward, holding out its burning sword as it approached the magus. Just as the shadow was about to fire another attack at Sumire, Surt cut it in half.

“Thank you!” Sumire called as she stood straight, staggering slightly and breathing heavily from the attack. Suddenly, Akira ran up beside her and put his arm under hers to help stabilize her.

“Raoul!” he yelled as his eyes flashed green. The persona rushed to Akira’s side and put his palm out towards Sumire, who immediately felt her wounds heal and looked up at Akira grinning down at her. Before she could say anything, Akira took a step in front of her and deflected the flurry of swords that came from the Arcana Shadow. “Aigis, Elizabeth! Take care of the rest of the shadows!” Aigis and Elizabeth nodded in response, turning to face the remaining shadows as Akira and Sumire faced the shadow in front of them.

Without warning, Akira burst forward with Sumire not too far behind him, both their blades outstretched as the shadow’s own blades shot downwards at them. Akira dodged to the right while Sumire dashed to the left, narrowly avoiding the shadow’s attack. “Sumire!” Akira called out, making a cut towards her as she did the same. The two met each other right in front of Arcana Magician, Paradise Lost and the Sword of Sinai slicing through the air towards the shadow’s main body. However, the shadow quickly retracted its arms and used them to defend it’s main body, numerous arms getting cut off from the couple’s attack. 

Just as the shadow’s swords were rushing towards the two, Akira grabbed Sumire around the waist and jumped backwards. As they flew back in the air, he noticed Elizabeth and Aigis tearing through the remaining shadows; only a table and two magus remained. 

_ ‘Akira!’  _ Akechi’s voice roared in Akira’s mind as he and Sumire landed, sliding backwards slightly as the shadow positioned itself to charge towards them. A sudden burst of energy filled Akira and Sumire as they looked at each other with wide grins on their faces. 

‘Not yet, Akechi,’ Akira calmly responded, Akechi mumbling curse words at him as he faded slightly.

“It’s showtime!” Akira yelled as he and Sumire jumped into the air, the scenery distorting into the church they performed their showtime. Akira whizzed towards Sumire, who jumped into his arms as they shot towards the shadow. Akira could feel Akechi pushing himself higher and higher within his subconscious, but forced him back as he pelted the shadow with bullets from his Tyrant Pistol and then sending Sumire down for the finishing blow. As Sumire draped her body on top of Akira's arm, Arcana Magician burst into a similar black puddle as the other shadows, its swords falling harmlessly to the ground. Breaking from the pose and helping Sumire stand straight up, Akira took a look around to see Thanatos viciously tearing the last magus in half and engulfing it in flames while Surt sliced the last magus twice diagonally in an “X” formation before stabbing in the middle of the shadow. The shadow disappeared into black dust, all the enemies killed as Surt and Thanatos fazed out of existence. 

“Nice work, guys!” Akira smiled as the two other women reconvened with him and Sumire, no signs of exhaustion on either of their faces.

“Akira, Sumire, I must say that that move was truly fantastic!” Elizabeth exclaimed, smiling at the couple.

“If I may, how are you able to accomplish such a move?” Aigis asked politely before adding on, “Also, why are you still using your mask, Sumire-san?” Sumire looked confused before realizing she had indeed ripped her mask off instead of using her evoker like Akira, but Akira stepped forward before she could respond.

“It’s a long story for the attack we just did, and we don’t have a lot of time,” Akira said, looking up at the ever growing chaotic clouds that surrounded Minato and Erebus. The other three followed Akira’s gaze upwards, seeing the same translucent stairs leading to three platforms similar to the one they were standing on before a final set of stairs that went to the great seal. “However, I think Sumire uses her mask because it’s simply an easier method to summon her persona.” 

Sumire nodded as the four began their ascent again, feeling slightly self-conscious. ‘Senpai doesn’t need his mask anymore, so why should I?’ she thought to herself, her thoughts quickly overtaking her mind just as Akira grabbed her hand. She looked up to see his reassuring gaze staring back at her, and a calm feeling washed over her as he smiled.

Elizabeth and Aigis noticed the two’s interaction with each other and, while Elizabeth smiled at the two, Aigis frowned. Elizabeth quickly noticed the sudden shift in demeanor and instantly knew what was on Aigis’ mind and put a hand on the girl’s shoulder as they climbed up towards the next platform. 

“It’ll be okay, Aigis,” Elizabeth said, cutting through Aigis’ thoughts as the robotic girl looked up at the velvet room attendant as she continued. “This will all end today, one way or another.” 

Just as Elizabeth said that, the stairs below them began to shake violently, causing the four to stumble forward. Luckily they landed onto the next platform, with Akira breaking Sumire’s fall with his own body as Elizabeth simply grabbed Aigis’ hand and floated gently back onto the translucent platform. “Everyone okay?” Akira shouted as Sumire quickly got off him and they scrambled to their feet. 

“Yes, we are all good over here, Akira,” Elizabeth calmly stated as Akira’s eyes met hers and Aigis’. Just before Akira could respond, an icy ball shot right past his head, causing the four to spin around to see the source. 

“Dammit, more of these?” Akira cursed to himself as ten shadows shambled in front of the four: three shadows comprised of hair and wearing a red mask along with a long, purple tiara, three shadows similar to the tiara ones but instead have a floating book above them, and three shadows of women sitting atop reversed pyramids in meditative stances with a bright light surrounding them. As with the last horde of shadows, there was a stronger looking one in the middle of a large woman, half her body black with the other completely white with long hair floating behind her and a mask that read the roman numeral for two.

‘I wonder how everyone else is doing…’ Akira thought to himself, gripping Paradise Lost as the four persona users summoned their personas, the shadows charging at them.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Dammit! I’m so anxious!” Ryuji cursed, lightly pounding his hand onto the booth table. Instead of scolding him, everyone simply nodded with him, including Mitsuru and Makoto.

“I have to agree with Ryuji. Of course, I know that Akira is stronger than all of us combined and that he has three other competent persona users as well, but I can’t stop worrying,” Yusuke said, nodding his head solemnly. Sojiro took a look at all the Thieves; they all shared the same worried look, no doubt about Akira. He then looked over at the newcomers, and noticed the exact same with them, but noticed a hint of sadness deep within their downcast looks.

“Alright, enough of this pity party!” Sojiro announced over the silent cafe, everyone looking up at him in surprise. Sojiro first turned to the Thieves. “I saw firsthand Akira’s power, and while I still don’t fully understand it, I know that he is capable of doing anything. On top of that, he has Sumire with him; there’s no way he’ll let anything happen to him or her,” Sojiro finished with a smirk; he knew just how much Akira loved Sumire, and just the thought of either of them dying would fuel Akira to continue fighting. Before any of the Thieves could respond, Sojiro then turned to the young adults sitting at the bar in front of him.

“I’m not fully caught up on your situation, but I’m positive that that girl… Aigis, was it?” he stopped, receiving a wary nod from Mitsuru before continuing. “If Akira took her with him, then he must trust in her abilities. Nothing bad will happen to her while she’s with him.” As Sojiro finished, he saw the Thieves’ looks of unease fade while the newcomers still had the slight amount of sadness in their eyes. That’s when it fully hit him, and he sighed.

“I’m not entirely sure what that woman meant when she said that Akira was the only one to save… whoever she was talking about, and it seems that you all care about that person, but I know that Akira will fight tooth and nail to save those in danger. If able to, he will do everything in his power to save this person,” Sojiro firmly stated, the Shadow Operation member’s all looking up in surprise before Junpei let out a small chuckle.

“Sounds just like our guy, doesn’t he?” he continued to chuckle lightly as he looked over at Yukari and Mitsuru, who both simply nodded at him. As Mitsuru turned back to Sojiro, a loud noise came from her phone on the counter to which she picked it up and put it to her ear.

“This is Mitsuru Kirijo speaki- Calm down, Fuuka!” Mitsuru cut herself off as everyone stared intently at her just as she suddenly shot to her feet. “What?! How many?” Everyone jumped at the sudden movement, but Junpei and Yukari instantly became deathly serious as Mitsuru finished the call with “Alright, we’ll be there soon!” and, as she shoved her phone back into her fur coat, rushed towards the door. 

“Mitsuru-san, what’s wrong?” Sae called out behind the redhead as Mitsuru threw the door open. The weather outside had gotten significantly worse than when Akira, Sumire, Ryuji and Yusuke fought the shadows earlier; ominous clouds were rolling overhead with a green fog quickly setting in all around.

“Shibuya is overrun with Shadows!” Mitsuru called back, Yukari and Junpei right behind her and the Thieves all shooting out of their seats with a mixture of shock and confusion on their faces. “I don’t want to get you involved, but I feel as if I don’t have a choice in the matter. Sae-san, Sojiro-san, please stay close with everyone when we get there; you’ll be safe with us, I promise!” With that, Mitsuru and the other two broke out into a full sprint, the Thieves looking at each other for a split second before Ryuji sprinted after them. Everyone else began to run after them with Makoto motioning for Sojiro and Sae to come with them. 

“What the hell?!” Sojiro shouted as he saw the state of the outside world, his shock along with everyone else's growing deeper as they saw people stumbling around them with some on the ground unconscious; however, none of them seemed concerned in the slightest. In the distance over Shibuya, there was a giant object floating in the air casting a red light onto the tallest buildings. 

The Thieves along with Sae and Sojiro followed close behind the Shadow Operative member’s as the three all got into a limousine. “We can’t all fit in there!” Sojiro called out as he grabbed his keys from his pocket, bursting forward towards his car. “Three people come with me while the rest go with them!”

Without saying anything, Sae, Ryuji, and Makoto followed Sojiro and crammed into his car while the rest of the Thieves climbed into the lush limousine. There was no small talk in either vehicles as the drivers sped towards Shibuya, weaving around the abandoned vehicles sitting in the road and ignoring the rule of law. 

Within ten minutes, the two vehicles were in Shibuya and everyone felt their bodies shake uncontrollably with fear. Despite the feeling, the persona users and the two adults exited the vehicles and took a look around at the nightmare landscape Shibuya had become; unconscious bodies littered the ground with some still awake people lumbering around the streets. However, that wasn’t what caught the group's eyes as they let out a collective gasp; a horde of shadows filled the sky, forming out of thin air.

“Mitsuru!” a young woman’s voice called out from another limousine not too far from where the two vehicles were parked. Everyone’s eyes shot over to see a cyan haired woman with a pony-tail running towards them. As she approached, the Thieves noticed that she was wearing a white blouse with black leggings along with brown boots.

“Fuuka, are you alright?” Mitsuru called back just as the woman, named Fuuka, stopped in front of her.

“Yes I am. Oh, are these the Phantom Thieves you were talking about earlier?” Fuuka asked, head poking out from Mitsuru’s body and looking over at the Thieves. Just as Ryuji was about to respond, a flash of blue surrounded the Thieves, quickly disappearing to reveal them all in their Thief outfit.

“The hell?” Junpei shouted out, Yuakari looking just as surprised. However, none of the Thieves could respond as two giant shadows marched towards them. Ryuji was the first to respond to the threat, putting himself in front of Sojiro as everyone else took position to intercept the two shadows. One was bulbous at the bottom with an elongated neck and wielding something that looked akin to a baton. The shadow also had a mask on with the roman numeral for three, while the shadow next to it was much taller, standing on spindly legs with a large sword in its right hand. On its mask it had the roman numeral for four. 

“That… that’s impossible!” Yukari exclaimed, causing the Thieves to look at her in confusion. “We defeated these ages ago!” The two shadows took another step forward, causing everyone to return their attention to them just as the shadow with the “four” on it’s mask raised its sword. 

“William!” Ryuji yelled out, his persona colliding with the blade and stopping it from crushing the limousine and the rest of the Shadow Ops. “You gotta try a lot harder than that!” William’s eyes flashed yellow as a bolt of electricity hit the shadow in the chest, causing it to stumble backwards.

“Nice work, Skull!” Morgana shouted as he summoned Diego to hit the stunned shadow. However, it appeared to do nothing to it as the shadow stood straight back up.

“They can change their weaknesses!” Both Futaba and Fuuka shouted out, both in their respective personas. “Right now, Arcana Emperoris weak to electricity and fire!” Fuuka continued on.

“And the one on the right… Arcana Empress is weak to wind and ice!” Futaba added on, a slight grin on her face as she saw Fuuka’s persona well below her. 

“Thank you, Fuuka and Futaba!” Mitsuru called out before returning her attention back to the shadows. “Alright, Junpei and whoever else that has electricity and fire focus on the shadow on the right while Yukari, whoever else has wind or ice, and I take on the one on the left!” Mitsuru commanded, jumping towards the Empress Arcana Shadow with her rapier in hand along with Yukari and Yusuke. At the same time, Junpei with his long sword and Ryuji with Imprisoned Mjolnir jumped towards the Emperor Arcana Shadow as the rest took position around the two non-persona users, hordes of shadows ranging from Eagles to Beetles surrounding them.

Time felt as if it had stopped for a split second, every breath the combined team took painfully slow as they stared down at the shadows. Then, as a bead of sweat fell from Sojiro brow, the fight exploded nearly instantaneously. All of the elements were flying around them with the persona users dashing around, slashing, piercing, and firing at the shadows. However, as they would defeat one shadow, two more would seem to take their place.

Morgana and Ann were fighting the shadows belonging to the Emperor arcana while Haru and Makoto were dealing with the Empress arcana shadows. The two groups were quickly being pushed back, the shadows proving to be too great in numbers as more took the places of the shadows they destroyed. The four surrounded Sojiro and Sae as they continued to fight, Makoto seeming to fight even harder than the other three as she tore through the shadows while atop Agnes. 

Sae was engrossed by how her younger sister was fighting; she had never seen this side of her before. ‘I wish I could fight along with her… Damn it!’ Sae thought as she saw Makoto barely dodge an attack from a white eagle. 

As the giant war-like battle continued, the fight with the two Arcana Shadows began as the six of them summoned their personas. At once, they all lifted their hands and ordered their personas to attack. Each of their respective elements flew from their personas’ hands, but the two shadows swapped places with each other, rendering the attacks useless. Before they could react, Arcana Emperor slammed his sword down, swatting William and Trismegistus away and causing their users to clutch their bodies in pain. Morgana and Yukari attempted to heal them, but Arcana Empress blasted them both with strikes of lightning, causing them both to stumble backwards onto their knees.

Sojiro saw their attack fail, and he felt something he hadn’t felt in a while: helpless. He couldn’t do anything but watch as his attention was drawn back towards the fight around him.

“You four, watch o-” Futaba’s voice rang from Al Azif, but she couldn’t finish as elemental energy shot from the shadows surrounding the four Thieves and two adults. The four barely put their arms up to guard in time, Makoto quickly getting in front of Sae while Ann guarded Sojiro. The attack hit them all, a flash of colors shining in front of Sojiro’s and Sae’s eyes as they saw the four stumble before falling to their knees.

“Makoto!” Sae screamed as she got to her knees, putting her hand on her sister’s back, concern covering her face as she saw blood slowly flowing down Makoto’s face. Seeing her sister in pain with her unable to do anything but show concern was infuriating to Sae. She felt helpless, useless as she always relied on these kids.

Sojiro was about to kneel down to help the other three, but he suddenly heard a blast and Futaba’s scream of pain from above him. His eyes darted up to see Al Azif damaged by a troop of Eagles, and his blood began to boil instantly.

“Futaba!” Sojiro shouted as the giant spaceship barely dodged another attack, only to run into another burst of wind. As another scream came from Futaba, Sojiro had enough.

_ “Will you just watch?” _ rang in both Sojiro’s and Sae’s head. Both of them instantly realized what was happening and a slight grin covered both their faces.

_ “To protect those that have protected you until now; that is your desire, correct?” _ the voices continued on, both Sojiro and Sae standing straight as the shadows were making their way towards them. However, time felt as if it had slowed down for them as they felt a sharp pain in their head.

_ “I am thou, thou art I. With newfound strength, protect those dearest to you!” _ roared in both the adults minds as they gripped their heads, grabbing onto the cars as their minds felt as if they were splitting apart.

“So-Sojiro?”

“Sis?” 

Futaba and Makoto looked on as they recognized what was happening just as the two adults’ eyes flew open, a flash of blue flames revealing masks on their faces. On Sojiro’s face was a jet black mask with the sides curled upwards, the eye holes barely big enough for people to see his eyes. On Sae’s face was a white visor that a knight would wear, shining despite the lack of light around her. 

Both reached up to their face at the same time, the two Arcana Shadows preparing an attack to finish off the six fighting along with the horde of shadows charging to kill the rest. 

“Maruice!”

“Joan of Arc!” 

Both adults roared into the sky, blue flames erupting around them as they tore off their masks. The shadows all stopped their attacks as an immense pressure began to push them back as the persona users all stared in awe at the double awakening happening before them. All of the shadows quickly regained their footing and were about to attack just as bolts of Almighty energy shot out into the horde of shadows, destroying most of them instantly. 

“What the-!?” Ryuji shouted out just as the blue flames disappeared, revealing Sojiro in a black suit coat with a pink shirt underneath while wearing black dress pants and a tall top hat. In his hands was a demonic knife that closely resembled Akira’s Paradise Lost, but it was sleeker than the other blade, along with a pistol that was nearly identical to the Tyrant Pistol but gray instead of black. Behind him was a frail looking persona wearing a similar outfit; however, it’s face was demonic with red eyes glaring out. It was floating midair on what seemed to be a constant stream of Almighty energy, and it was smoking a cigar calmly with a cane in it’s other hand.

Everyone looked in awe at Sojiro, but Futaba noticed a stray shadow charging straight at him. “Soji-” she began just as a beautiful white blade sliced the shadow in two. Makoto gasped in surprise at the persona; it was a light skinned woman in shining armor wielding a giant sword in its right hand with a shield in its left, sitting atop a white stallion with its black hair flowing behind

“Let us take this, everyone!” Sae called out from beside Makoto, causing her to shift her attention to see her sister clad in white armor. On her chest was the Phantom Thief logo and she had a claymore beautifully crafted in her hands. Sae looked over at Sojiro, who simply returned the gaze and nodded. The two dashed forward suddenly, both their blades outstretched as all the shadows turned their attention to them. Elemental attacks shot towards them, but Sojiro’s eyes flashed black as Maurice raised its cane and the attacks suddenly vanished. As the two approached the two Arcana Shadows, Sojiro and Sae cut past each other with their personas right behind them. A beetle attempted to stop Sojiro from reaching Arcana Emperor, but Sojiro simply flourished his blade through the shadow with ease as Sae demolished a Relic shadow blocking her from Arcana Empress.

“They're changing again!” Fuuka shouted as Maurice and Joan of Arc prepared their attacks. 

“No matter!” Sojiro and Sae both shouted out as Maurice dropped its cigar and raised its hand while Joan of Arc drew its sword back. Almighty energy began to gather in Maurice’s hand and around Joan of Arc’s sword and, without waiting for the two shadows to finish changing resistances, the two persona users willed their other selves to attack. A beam of Almighty energy shot from Maurice’s hand, creating a giant hole in the center of Arcana Emperor while Joan of Arc slashed twice at Arcana Empress, slicing straight through the shadow and creating an “X” onto the shadow. Both shadows stood still for a moment before collapsing, disintegrating into black dust.

All around the shadows began to disappear as well until only the persona users were left, all of them having a mixture of shock and awe on their faces. “What just happened?” Ryuji asked before seeing Sojiro and Sae walking back towards them. Forgetting about his injuries, he ran towards them with an excited look on his face. “Damn, that was freaking amazing!”

With Ryuji’s excitement, the general atmosphere surrounding the group brightened as the Thieves collectively shook their heads. However, they all had smiles on their faces as they walked towards the two newly awakened adults, Makoto and Futaba running up to Sae and Sojiro respectively.

“I never expected you to awaken to your own persona, Sis!” Makoto exclaimed as Yukari cast Madiarahan on the group, a slight amount of mental fatigue showing on her face as the Shadow Ops members stood at a distance. Several “Thank you”’s rang from the group before the Thieves’ attention returned back to the two adults. As Sae was about to respond, Futaba began jumping in front of Sojiro in excitement.

“Sojiro, that was so cool!” she gushed over the middle aged man, who warmly smiled down at her just as he realized the clothes he was in. 

“Huh, so this is my Thief outfit, as you guys call it,” he muttered to himself, Sae also looking down at herself.

“It makes perfect sense in hindsight,” Yusuke commented, finger framing the two adults in front of him. “Especially for you, Boss. Now that I see it up close, you bear a striking similarity to Akira’s outfit.”

“It’s probably the other way around,” Haru cut in, all the Thieves looking over at her. “Think about it; Akira looks up to Boss more than any of us, so much so that he sees him as his father. His new outfit is probably due to that fact.” Sojiro let a smile on his face at the realization. ‘So, the kid really does think of me as his father. Fine by me,’ he thought to himself before turning his attention to Sae.

“If mine makes sense, then so does Sae’s,” he said, looking up and down at the silver haired woman. 

“I have to agree with that,” Makoto added before Sae could say anything. “Your justice has expanded past simply wanting to win, Sis; you want to protect others that are innocent, to help them as much as you can. A knight in shining armor fits you; almost too well, in my opinion.” Sae looked at Makoto in surprise before smiling at her younger sister.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Sae responded.

“What names should we give them?” Ryuji asked, looking over at the Thieves while the Shadow Ops looked on in confusion. 

“Oh, we all have our own codenames that we used during missions,” Makoto explained upon seeing the confused faces.

“We don’t need those names, Junpei,” Mitsuru cut in as she saw Junpei open his mouth.

“I-I wasn’t going to suggest that!” he shouted defensively.

“I think Sojiro should be Boss, while Sis should be Knight,” Makoto interrupted the conversation.

“They both make sense, and I like the simplicity for mine,” Sae said, bringing her hand to her chin before realizing the visor on her face and touching it with both hands.

“Wait, so that’s how you summon your personas?” Junpei suddenly blurted out, realization crossing his face as Yukari brought her hand to her face and sighed.

“You JUST realized that?” Yukari asked exasperatedly. “How come you’re still an idiot after all these years?” Unknown to Ryuji, Ann was staring at him with amusement on her face as he walked forward.

“Yeah, we summon our personas by ripping our masks of- wait, you guys shoot yourselves, right?” Ryuji cut himself off with his own realization, the Thieves collectively groaning as Ryuji and Jupei began gushing about their personas.

“I saw that yours was on a ship! That’s badass dude!” Jupei exclaimed.

“Yours has those cool golden wings on it, man! Also that red is effing amazing!” Ryuji countered. Makoto and Mitsuru smiled at the two, slightly shaking their heads as they both turned towards each other. However, before either could say anything, Fuuka and Futaba both summoned their personas again.

“Six strong shadows approaching!” they both announced just as the group saw the shadows they mentioned approaching them.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Akira-san, watch out!” Aigis yelled out as one of the Book shadows fired a chunk of ice at the teen in red who was focusing on the Priestess Arcana Shadow. Sumire noticed the attack as well and, upon noticing that Akira wouldn’t be able to dodge in time, quickly kicked the Tiara shadow back and pushed Akira out of the way. Sumire braced herself for the attack, but instead heard Elizabeth’s voice call out.

“Makarakarn!”

A barrier of energy formed right in front of the redhead, reflecting the chunk of ice back towards the Book shadow which simply broke harmlessly against it. Akira quickly jumped back to his feet and turned, ready to cast a healing spell on Sumire when he heard Elizabeth cast the spell. 

“Thanks, everyone!” he shouted out as he sliced at one of the Idol shadows, creating a large gash as the shadow floated away from him. Akira kicked off the ground to follow the shadow closely, Paradise Lost nearly ripping through it just as a blast of fire hit his side. Luckily he saw it before it hit him, allowing him time to block mid air as he was sent off course. 

“Are you alright, Akira?” Elizabeth called out, summoning Thanatos to rip apart the Book shadow that originally targeted Akira. 

“Yeah, I’m fine!” Akira responded truthfully; the attack barely hurt at all, but the shadows were beginning to irritate him. 

_ ‘Just destroy them all! Fuse with Raoul and end this!’  _ Akechi roared within Akira’s mind, the entirety of the Justice Arcana forcing itself to the front of Akira’s mind.

‘We have to conserve our energy, moron!’ Akira yelled back internally, dodging another fireball from the Tiara shadow and noticed that the shadows were surrounding the Priestess Shadow as dark and light energy began coalescing within the Shadow’s hands. 

“Akira, we don’t have long until the shadow unleashes that attack!” Aigis called out, her eyes fixated on the Priestess Shadow as she mentally chose Scathach. “Persona!” The light skinned persona in red appeared behind her, her eyes lighting up just as a Book shadow fired a gust of intense wind energy at the three girls. Aigis’ own wind collided with the shadow’s, quickly overwhelming it’s own and, after a little bit of redirection, hit two of the three Tiaras. The shadows instantly burst into black blood and smoke, leaving a window to attack Arcana Priestess.

“Eigaon!” Elizabeth called out, Thanatos shooting forward and, with its hand outstretched, fired a ball of cursed energy directly at the Shadow. However, the three Idol’s quickly intercepted the attack, reflecting it back towards Thanatos which did nothing to the persona. However, before Elizabeth could react, the center Idol with the gash in its chest fired a chunk of ice, hitting Thanatos square in the head. Elizabeth winced slightly as her persona recoiled from the attack, but overall was unfazed. 

Akira began to run towards the shadows, but an overwhelming feeling within him caused him to stop. His eyes widened; he didn’t understand what the feeling was, but knew that it wasn’t coming from Raoul or Akechi. The other three notice him stop suddenly along with a flash of… something on his face. It didn’t fit any one emotion, but they couldn’t focus on that right now as the Priestess Shadow was gathering more energy.

“Bufudyne!” Aigis shouted, a flash of light crossing Scathach’s eyes as a piece of ice flew towards the last Tiara. Just as she expected, the other shadows attempted to block the attack, so she burst forward, jumping into the air and firing bullets from her fingertips at the Book shadows, making sure to avoid the Idols. The bullets ripped through the shadows, only leaving the Idols and the last Tiara remaining.

“Elizabeth-san, Sumire-san!” Aigis shouted out as she jumped backwards, the ball of ice finally striking one of the healthy Idols and partially encasing it in ice. The two women willed their personas forward towards the shadows, Thanatos screeching as it rocketed towards the shadow and pure energy forming around Ella’s legs. All Akira could do was watch as the two personas tore through the rest of the shadows, barely able to move his body. 

‘What the hell is this feeling?’ Akira’s mind raced when realization hit his face; he was feeling YHWH deep within him. However, it wasn’t the god attempting to break free, but as if humanity’s will was calling out to him. 

“Senpai!” Sumire’s shriek broke Akira out of his thoughts as the giant attack from the Priestess Shadow was directed at him. A giant beam of Almighty energy quickly approached him as he saw Ella rush towards him, but instead Thanatos appeared suddenly in front of him and put it’s hand forward. 

“Megidolaon,” he heard Elizabeth say calmly as a burst of Almighty energy came from Thanatos’ hand, ripping through the Arcana Shadow’s beam and decimating it instantly. The other three looked over at the attendant with shock on their faces, with Akira able to move again.

“Why didn’t you just do that from the start, Elizabeth?” Akira asked, ignoring Akechi’s grumblings within him asking the same question. 

“As you can probably guess, an attack of that caliber takes quite a bit out of me,” Elizabeth responded, barely looking winded from Akira’s view. However, he could tell she was being serious; when he fought Lavenza earlier in the year she barely showed any signs of exhaustion even when she was at her limit. 

“But enough about me,” Elizabeth suddenly stared into Akira’s eyes. “Are you okay, Akira?”

“Yeah, you suddenly stopped there, Senpai!” Sumire added on, her eyes full of worry. 

“Honestly I’m not entirely sure myself…” Akira trailed off, sighing internally; ‘I should tell th-’ he began to think before another roar from Erebus came from the black fog and a sudden sharp pain shot through Akira’s body. 

“Akira!” Sumire shouted as she saw him fall to his knees and grab his head. She rushed to his side, putting her hands on his chest and back to help keep him stable. “What’s going on!?”

“So much pain… it’s unbelievable…” Akira muttered, tears beginning to form in his eyes as he lifted his head shakily to meet Sumire’s eyes. He took a deep breath in, focusing all his energy just to regain control over his own emotions. “I swear to you all; this ends today.” In one motion, Akira got to his feet, determination the only thing showing on his face.

“Akira-san…” Aigis breathed out; she could tell that his words meant multiple things, one of those being Minato’s imprisonment as the Great Seal. Elizabeth smiled at his words, feeling a wave of relief flow over her as she saw the look in Akira’s eyes; he would see this through to the end. 

“Senpai, what did you mean by “so much pain”?” Sumire asked, reaching out for Akira’s hand. He looked down at her and smiled while taking her hand.

“I’m not entirely sure how, but I could feel humanity’s negative emotions when Erebus let out that roar,” Akira responded, his calming smile keeping Sumire from freaking out. Patting Sumire on the head, Akira suddenly turned towards the translucent stairs nearby leading to the next platform. “We should get going,” he said as he began walking, the other three surprised at how quickly his demeanor shifted. Sumire shook her head as she saw Akira look back at them, already being at the stairs, and ran to catch up with the other two not too far behind her. 

During the ascent up to the next platform, Akira was focusing inward to try and suppress the emotions from the masses with Sumire next to him with her hand locked with his. He barely even noticed the gesture as he could still feel the negative emotions radiating from Erebus as the four walked in silence, Sumire looking concernedly at Akira while Aigis and Elizabeth walked behind them. Aigis could tell the thoughts going through Sumire’s mind just from the look on her face; it reminded her of the worry she felt for Minato so long ago.

Aigis lightly slapped her cheeks before she thought about it too much, only Elizabeth looking over at her. “Are you okay, Aigis?” Elizabeth asked with her normal, calm tone. Aigis nodded at the attendant, forcing a smile. However, the look on Elizabeth’s face showed that Aigis didn’t hide it well enough, so she let out a sigh as the four reached the next platform. They all readied themselves for another battle, but no shadows showed themselves.

Akira didn’t let his guard down as he and the other three tentatively walked into the center of the platform, but no shadows appeared. After waiting for another minute for any shadow to appear and nothing happening, Akira relaxed his body and turned to face the three girls. He half expected someone to shout “Look out!” but still nothing happened as he let out a sigh. The other three also loosened up, relief showing on Sumire’s face as she grabbed Akira’s hand again.

“Let’s rest here for a while, Senpai,” she said. Before Akira could protest, Elizabeth took a step forward towards the two.

“I must agree with Sumire; while physically none of us are tired, our mental stamina must be running low. Especially yours, Akira,” Elizabeth calmly stated. Akira opened his mouth to argue, but he could tell that she was right as she sat down onto the ground. Aigis sat next to Elizabeth with Sumire pulling Akira down to sit as well, which he didn’t resist as he did feel a moderate amount of mental fatigue. The four sat in silence for a while, resting up as their minds all thought of the same thing: Erebus. Akira noticed everyone grow tense, including himself, and decided to lighten the atmosphere.

“So Aigis, you and Minato seem pretty close,” Akira started, immediately kicking himself internally for mentioning it as he expected Aigis to grow emotional. However, she shocked him by giving a genuine smile, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Indeed,” Aigis nodded at Akira. “He was the one that showed me the meaning of life… of MY life.” Sumire squeezed Akira’s hand at Aigis words; it all seemed too familiar to her. “I feel as if your relationship with Sumire-san is actually fairly close to my relationship with Minato-san. I love him dearly.” Akira smiled at the last part; he already knew that was how she felt, but hearing her say it made him even more prepared to destroy Erebus.

“Wait, so Elizabeth,” Akira began, turning to the woman dressed in blue who also turned to him. “How exactly will this Great Seal break? Just by defeating Erebus?”

“Not quite,” Elizabeth said, a downcast look in her eyes. “Erebus will return due to it being the culmination of humanity’s negative emotions, even if we kill it.”

“Then why are we here? How do you know that Akira can free Minato-kun?” Sumire burst out. Akira released his hand from hers and placed it on her shoulder, their eyes meeting as his eyes said “Let her talk”.

“Akira holds the Will of the Masses within him, which is why he felt the negative emotions of humanity earlier,” Elizabeth explained. “I believe that it is within his power to shift humanity’s desires so they no longer wish for Nyx, so they no longer wish for death.”

“Will he be okay if he does something like that?” Sumire asked. Akira could see Elizabeth hesitate with her answer, and it was clear Sumire saw it as well as she stood up with a defensive look in her eyes. “I don’t want to lose him because of this! He’s my world, my everything!” Sumire shouted out, Elizabeth looking downwards away from the girl.

“Sumi, calm down,” Akira calmly said as he got to his feet and put his hand on her shoulder. Sumire tried to rip herself away, but he tightened his grip on her and looked straight at her while she continued struggling. “Listen to me!” Akira nearly shouted, causing Sumire to freeze in shock before looking up into his eyes. “I’ll be okay; I promise.”

“A-Akira…” Sumire stuttered, her fears melting away as she stared into his warm eyes. Aside from the love in there, she also saw a burning determination to finish this, to set humanity back onto its own path. Her body relaxed as she let out a sigh. “Alright, I trust you Aki-” she began again, but was cut off by Akira’s lips meeting hers. She flushed bright red but didn’t resist, instead melting as she brought her hands up to his face. However, he broke from the kiss before she could hold him there, leaving her wanting more just as she remembered Elizabeth and Aigis behind her. Sumire flipped around to see the two smiling at her and Akira, but that didn’t help as she only grew more embarrassed.

“You two are cute together,” Elizabeth commented, Aigis nodding her head in agreement. Sumire began stuttering to try and come up with a defense just as Akira moved to her side and grabbed her hand.

“We should get going; there’s only one more platform before we reach Erebus,” he calmly stated, but Aigis could see a slight grin on his face as he turned towards the stairs. Aigis let a small smile on her face as well as Sumire walked beside Akira hand in hand as she and Elizabeth walked closely behind them.

As the four walked on, Akira could feel the Will of the Masses within him writhe in agony within him as they approached the last platform. Akira grit his teeth, forcing himself to keep moving through sheer will. ‘I have to be strong for everyone’s sake; for Sumire’s sake,’ he thought, unconsciously gripping Sumire’s hand tighter. Sumire returned the action, looking over at her beloved to see him staring straight ahead. A pang of guilt flushed throughout Sumire’s body as she wished she could do more for him, but she knew she couldn’t do more than just be there for him. Elizabeth and Aigis stayed quiet for the climb, instead preparing themselves mentally for the battles to come.

“Get down!” Akira shouted as he grabbed Sumire and fell onto the ground. Elizabeth and Aigis, who were still on the stairs, stayed put just as a wave of electricity, fire, and ice shot overhead.

“Akira-san! Sumire-san!” Aigis yelled as the attack ended, her and Elizabeth rushing onto the platform to see Akira and Sumire jump to their feet. In the center of the platform were five shadows; two big ones with three statues of praying women underneath a shadow floating mid air. It was a humanoid shadow hung on an upside down cross, suspended by wires piercing into its back. It’s mask was flipped upside down with the roman numerals for twelve. A good distance away from the praying shadows was a bipedal shadow with purple fur coming from it’s head with one hole in the center beneath the roman numerals for nine. On its back were six bulbs of glass, all crackling with electricity as the shadow shambled forward what appeared to be wires for legs.

The four positioned themselves to fight once again as the threat of Erebus hung over them.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Shit, more of them?” Skull shouted out as the persona users all formed a defensive ring, gripping their weapons tight as the Arcana shadows continued their approach.

“Everyone, splitting up is our best option for victory here!” Mitsuru shouted, taking a quick glance backwards to see that there were eleven persona users able to fight. “Shit, we could use one mo-” she began to mutter just as an electric attack came from a fat shadow sitting in a throne with a white woman seemingly sprouting out from it. Just as Mitsuru put her arms to block, the muscular back of a familiar figure dashed in front of the group.

“Caesar!” a manly voice came from the figure as he pulled the trigger on his own evoker, a flash of blue light revealing a white clothed persona holding a white blade in its right hand while holding a globe in its left. The persona named Caesar lifted up the globe in front of it, the globe floating just as the electricity reached it and bounced off harmlessly.

“A-Akihiko?” Mitsuru sputtered, shocked by the sudden appearance of her former teammate.

“Sorry I took so long! Fuuka sent me an emergency call while I was nearby, but the traffic suddenly stopped as I was riding here so it took me some time,” Akihiko responded. The rest of the group didn’t know what to say as Yukari, Junpei, and Fuuka all gathered around the new persona user. Sojiro took a quick look at the man; he seemed to be in his mid twenties along with Mitsuru, and he was practically shirtless while only wearing a red cape. A wild grin was on his face as he turned on his heels, fists up as if he was going to box the shadows.

“Alright, we’ll split into teams of four! Goodluck everyone!” Mitsuru called out, everyone nodding in response as the Arcana Shadows continued their approach. 

“Oh no you don’t!” Skull shouted, summoning William to stop numerous bullets coming from a winged shadow with the roman numeral for eight from hitting Panther beside him. Mona and Fox jumped to their side as Skull staggered slightly, the attack from the Justice Arcana Shadow causing William to faze in and out.

“Skull! Diarama!” Mona shouted, Diego appearing next to him as the green energy swirled around and into Skull. 

“Thanks!” Skull called back as he straightened back up to see another shadow lumbering underneath Arcana Justice. It was a huge shadow standing on what appeared to be treads of a tank. Instead of a mask it had a yellow square near the top of its body with the roman numeral for seven with two black rectangles with yellow spots that the four assumed were eyes.

“Mona, call out orders for us!” Fox yelled as he summoned Gorokichi, the Arcana Chariot charging straight for the four. William slammed into the Shadow, stopping it in its tracks but was being pushed back slightly just as Gorokichi slashed at the blocky Shadow. However, a barrage of bullets came from the Arcana Justice directed at Gorokichi, forcing the eccentric persona to dodge and deflect the attack. 

“Argh!” Skull screamed in pain as the Chariot Arcana slammed William into the ground. Ann tried to run to his side, but Skull stayed on his feet as he grit his teeth. “I’m fine! Just focus on these bastards!”

“Mona, give us orders!” Fox repeated just as Gorokichi missed a bullet which hit it in the shoulder. Mona saw the teen wince in pain as he commanded Gorokichi to fall back, leaving the two shadows to focus on the persona users in front of them.

“Panther, lower their attack and focus on the small guy with fire attacks! Skull, you raise our attack and stay out in front! You’re best for taking hits! Fox, you focus on the bigger one with Skull while raising our evasion! I’ll do my best to call out attacks and heal when necessary!” Mona shouted out as the four dodged one of the treads slamming down at their location, kicking up some dust. Mona willed Diego to blow the dust away just as red and green energy surrounded him and the other three while a darker red energy surrounded the two shadows.

Skull dashed forward out of the dust just as Mona began clearing it with William behind him, electricity beginning to crackle around the persona as the weakened shadows focused on him, Arcana Justice focusing its gun on persona user and persona. However, just before the Shadow began firing, a burst of fire in front of it caused it to flinch backwards, the flames singing part of the shadow’s wings. Arcana Justice let out an angered shriek as it flapped its wings to put out the flames before focusing on Celestine and Panther, who had a smirk on her face as she walked towards the fight.

“Thanks Panther!” Skull called out as William spiraled out of the way of a punch from Arcana Chariot, the persona outstretching its arm cannon and blasting the Shadow directly in the face with a point blank Ziodyne. However, the Shadow only stumbled backwards slightly; if Skull’s attack did any damage, it didn’t show as the Shadow attempted to swing at William with its other tread-like arm, but Gorokcihi’s blade stopped it before hitting. 

Numerous fire balls flew from Celestine’s hand towards the Justice Shadow, but it was too quick as it zipped around in the sky. “Panther, you’re going to wear yourself out before you defeat it!” Mona exclaimed as he saw some sweat forming on the girl’s brow. The cat looked up at the Justice Shadow as Panther stopped her barrage of attacks. The Shadow realized that it wasn’t being attacked and, like clockwork, instantly stopped and faced its gun at Celestine and Panther. “Garudyne!” Mona shouted as Diego thrust his blade into the sky, green gusts of intense winds trapping the shadow.

“Nice work, Mona!” Panther said as the cat ran up beside her before they both looked back at the state of battle. Skull and Fox were pushing back Arcana Chariot, dodging its wild swings while ramming and slashing at it. “Time to finish this!” Panther announced as Celestine’s hands both burned with fire.

“Wait, Panth-” Mona began, but was too late as the fireball from Celestine was already rocketing towards the still entrapped Shadow. However, an updraft was created by the combination of wind and fire, causing Arcana Justice to be shot up out of the attack. 

“Shit!” 

“Dammit!”

Both Fox and Skull shouted as they felt their evasion begin to drop just as the Chariot Shadow slammed its two tracks into their personas. Thanks to Panther’s Matarunda the attack didn’t hurt too much, but the tide of battle was quickly turning to the two Shadows’ favor. Before any of the four could react, Arcana Chariot suddenly shifted, moving it’s two treads it used as arms to the ground as Arcana Justice gently descended onto the other Shadow’s back as the two combined into a tank-like Shadow.

“The hell?” Skull shouted just as a strange gas began to exude from the bottom of the tank Shadow and quickly moved towards the Thieves. 

“Cover your mouths!” Fox warned the other three just as the gas reached them; it was better safe than sorry as they all did as warned.

“Shit, this is poisonous gas!” Mona cursed as the four all began coughing despite covering their mouths. Everyone else around them were preoccupied with the other Shadows, so they were on their own for this fight. Skull attempted to move as the turret of the tank positioned towards them, but his body wouldn’t respond in time as a giant shell crashed right in the middle of the four. They flew into the air, landing not too far away as the tank shadow aimed for Skull, who had landed nearest to it.

“Ryuji!” The three other Thieves shouted in unison as the tank fired a shell directly at Skull, kicking up dust to prevent the Thieves from seeing their teammate. 

“No… way…” Panther breathed out, tears already forming as she forced herself up and tried to move towards the dust cloud. However, the Shadow swiveled the turret to face her next, a bright light gathering within the turret. Closing her eyes, Panther put her arms up feebly, daring not to take a breath as she waited for the attack as the other two Thieves could only watch in horror. However, the attack never came as a bolt of lightning struck the combined Shadow’s side, causing it to slide and nearly tip over.

“Don’t give up just yet, guys!” Skull shouted as the dust cleared. William was floating in front of him, both their eyes full of determination as Skull seemed to be breathing heavily.

“Skull’s right!” Mona exclaimed as he climbed to his feet to face the combined Shadow, Fox forcing himself up as well. The poisonous gas still lingered as the Thieves all held their breaths, their hearts beating faster as the Shadow corrected itself. Within themselves, the Thieves collective felt their power increasing as the Shadow prepared another attack.

“William!”

“Celestine!”

“Diego!”

“Gorokichi!”

The Thieves all announced in unison as their personas shot towards the Shadow, confusing it as they began to circle around it. The Shadow attempted to fire a shell at the passing personas, but Gorokichi deflected it back at it, causing it to be temporarily stunned. The four personas stopped their circling and began to gather their respective energy. Just as the Shadow righted itself, the Thieves all unleashed the collected energy at once.

“Elemental Crush!” they shouted together as the energy met together at the shadow, creating a giant explosion of fire, ice, wind, and electricity. The two Shadows separated to try and escape the attack, but it was for naught as the elements hit them both, causing them both to disintegrate from the intense power from the combined attack.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Heh, it’s been a while since we’ve fought like this!” Akihiko called out as he swiftly dodged a fireball from a giant heart with two wings holding it up along with a small head on top with the roman numeral for six on it.

“You can say that again!” Jupei shouted as he summoned Trismegistus to attack Arcana Lovers, but Arcana Hierophant moved in front to block the attack. 

“Will you two focus!” Yukari admonished the two as her persona, Isis, formed behind her and was about to fire a blast of wind energy at the two Shadows as Mitsuru swung her rapier at her. “Mitsuru?” Yukari asked, taken aback as she dodged the attack before seeing Mitsuru’s eyes; she was brainwashed.

The two guys noticed Mitsuru attacking Yukari, but couldn’t do anything as Arcana Hierophant began laughing as a strangely colored energy came from it. Junpei barely dodged out of the way of it, but Akihiko was too late in moving. His entire body began to shake violently, his eyes full of fear as he took a step backwards.

“Hey, pull it together!” Junpei shouted at the previously confidant man now backing away, his shaking legs barely holding him up. Just as Junpei was about to run over to him, Arcana Hierophant blasted him with a bolt of electricity, sending him backwards as he slid to a halt. Yukari dodged past Mitsuru’s wild swinging and stood next to Junpei, their weapons pointed out as the Hierophant Shadow was preparing another attack while the Lovers Shadow held its control over Mitsuru.

“Fuuka, what should we do?” Yukari shouted back at their navigator just as a bolt of electricity came crashing down at her. However, Junpei pulled her out of the way of the attack just in time, leaving the ground scorched from the attack.

“Mitsuru is currently brainwashed and Akihiko is afraid! You two have to break them out before going for the Shadows to stand a chance against them!” Fuuka called out over the battle just as Mitsuru fired a blast of ice from Artemisia behind her towards Junpei. The man in question could do nothing but put his arms up, the ice shattering against him and making deep cuts into his body as he fell to his knees.

“Junpei!” Yukari shouted, shifting her attention from Mitsuru to the heavily injured man next to her as she willed Isis to heal him. His wounds healed as the green energy filled his body, but Mitsuru charged again at the two as Junpei got to his feet. 

“Yukari, you try and break her out! I’ll go get Akihiko!” Junpei yelled, turning his back to run towards the now stiff Akihiko as Yukari simply nodded her head as she dodged Mitsuru’s rapier piercing through the air straight for her head. As Junpei ran he saw the Hierophant Shadow begin to charge pure energy directed at Akihiko. “Damn it! Why are these things even back?” Junpei cursed to himself as he dove at the frozen Akihiko, tackling him out of the way of the Swift Strike from the Hierophant Shadow.

“Ju-Junpei?” Akihiko stuttered as Junpei straightened himself into a kneel and swung as hard as he could, slapping Akihiko across the face. “O-ow! What the hell was that f-” Akihiko began, before realizing what exactly had happened. Junpei, noticing that he came to his senses, got off of Akihiko and jumped to his feet, holding out his hand to help the silver haired man onto his feet. “Thanks, Junpei.”

“Don’t worry about it!” Junpei lightly slapped Akihiko’s back just as Yukari slid backwards next to them.

“Can you two save it for later and help me?” she nearly shouted at the two as the controlled Mitsuru began running towards the three as the Hierophant Shadow began to charge another attack. Junpei and Akihiko immediately took a combative stance as Mitsuru’s rapier sliced towards Yukari who dodged backwards. Junpei stepped in front of her and swung his blade as hard as he could at Mitsuru’s, knocking her rapier out of her hand and onto the ground. 

“Wake up, Mitsuru!” Akihiko shouted as Mitsuru lunged for Junpei’s throat, threatening to tear it out just as Akihiko rammed into her and caused her to fall to the ground. He could see her eyes flash back to normal as she fell, nearly hitting her head as he caught her. The two stayed like that before Akihiko saw an annoyed look in Mitsuru’s eyes and quickly helped her to her feet.

“Thank you, Akihiko,” Mitsuru calmly stated, reaching down for her rapier as the four heard the Lovers Shadow roar in rage. They all looked up at it just as the Hierophant Shadow released a giant bolt of electricity towards them as well as the Lovers Shadow shooting a fireball. 

“Stand behind me! Caesar!” Akihiko shouted as he proudly stood up and resummoned his persona. Before any of the three could counter, the electricity and fire hit Caesar directly. The bolt of electricity did no damage to him, but Akihiko felt pain wash over him as the fireball caused Caesar to faze in and out of reality.

“Yukari, heal him!” Mitsuru commanded with Yukari nodding, willing Isis to do just that as Akihiko stood straight back up again to face the two Shadows.

“Any plans?” Akihiko asked as the other three stood beside him, their personas all lined up behind them.

“Arcana Hierophant is protecting Arcana Lovers, so you want to deal with that first!” Fuuka informed the Shadow Ops members. They all nodded in unison as Mitsuru’s mind raced as the two shadows charged their respective elements in front of them.

“Yukari and Junpei, you two deal with Arcana Hierophant! Akihiko and I will deal with Arcana Lovers!” Mitsuru commanded, the three all nodding as Junpei and Yukari rushed towards Arcana Hierophant. Arcana Lovers attempted to fire a fireball at the two, but Artemisia shot a sharp icicle at it, knocking it backwards as Caesar rushed forward to smack it down to the ground with it’s silver blade. Arcana Hierophant attempted to attack the two personas attacking Arcana Lovers, but Junpei slammed into it full force, stumbling backwards but stopping it in the process. Junpei quickly found his footing as Arcana Hierophant shot a line of lightning at him.

“Trismegistus!” Junpei shouted as his persona slashed at the Shadow with its pointed legs, causing the electric attack to hit the ground next to the adult man instead of hitting him head on. “Yukari, now!”

“Garudyne!” Yukari commanded, Isis’ eyes flashing green as green winds suddenly spun around the Shadow, making deep cuts as its black blood began splattering onto the ground.

“Akihiko, let’s go!” Mitsuru yelled over the loud battlefield as she and Akihiko dodged a fireball from Arcana Lovers, dashing towards it with their personas right behind them. The Shadow attempted to blast away Mitsuru again as Akihiko kicked off the ground, sprinting even faster as he uppercutted Arcana Lovers, forcing its fireball to fire into the sky. Akihiko, still in the air, turned his body midair and slammed his foot into its mask.

“Mitsuru!” Akihiko shouted as he arched back to the ground, flying overhead as his redhead teammate stood straight up and appeared to take a deep breath in. Then, just as Akihiko landed and Arcana Lovers righted itself and was about to fire another attack, her eyes shot open as Artemisia cracked its whip down the ground, sending numerous huge chunks of ice flying towards the heart shaped Shadow. The ice hit the Shadow one by one, shattering upon contact and refreezing on parts of its body as the impact sent it flying backwards. Arcana Lovers managed to stop itself next to Arcana Hierophant, which barely escaped Yukari’s Garudyne but massively injured. The two shadows barely had any energy left to attack as they just slumped where they were, leaving themselves wide open.

“I’ve been waiting for this!” Akihiko roared as a wild grin crossed his face as everyone’s blood began to boil; it was time for an All Out Attack! Akihiko was the first to rush towards the two Shadows, his fists raised in front of him as Mitsuru and Junpei followed close behind him with their blades outstretched while Yukari ran decently far behind them with arrows already flying towards the shadows. The three close ranged Shadow Ops members reached the two Shadows just as a flurry of arrows pierced both of them, Akihiko landing three powerful punches into the fat of Arcana Hierophant before slamming his fist into its chest, sending the shadow onto its back. Mitsuru approached Arcana Lovers with blitzing speed, her rapier flourishing in front of her as she left thousands of small but deadly cuts just as Junpei soared into the air, impaling the prone Arcana Hierophant in the head. Akihiko turned on his heels and, along with Mitsuru stabbing into the right side of Arcana Lovers, slammed his fist into the left side of the Shadow. Both of the Arcana Shadows let out a pained shriek as they convulsed before dissolving into black dust.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oracle, do you know what these things are?” Queen shouted up at their navigator as the two Shadows, one appearing to be a golden quadrupedal with wings coming from near its front legs with the roman numeral for ten on its mask while the other Shadow was of a long haired woman in a flowing dress standing atop a bundle of flowers surrounded by iron fencing with the roman numeral for eleven on its mask.

“The one on the right is… Arcana Fortune while the left is Arcana Strength!” Oracle informed the group just as a barrier surrounded Arcana Fortune while light shined in Arcana Strength’s eyes. “Be careful; you won’t be able to damage Arcana Fortune until you deal with Arcana Strength!”

“Thanks Futa- Oracle!” Boss corrected himself midway, a weird but comforting feeling washing over him; he was an actual Phantom Thief, the realization placing a grin on his face. ‘It’s my turn to help out now!’ he told himself as he spun his knife in his hand as he and the other three took a step forward, Knight right beside him.

“Are you three ready?” Knight shouted just as energy began coalescing around Arcana Strength. The other Thieves all nodded their heads as iron fencing shot straight towards the four, all of them jumping out of the way. As Boss slid to a stop, he reached up and ripped off his mask, feeling no pain this time as he summoned Maurice behind him.

“Eigaon!” he roared as Maurice flicked its hand with the cigar towards Arcana Strength, cursed energy surrounding it before crashing down around the Shadow. 

“Go Boss!” Oracle shouted from Al Azif as she saw the Shadow fly backwards, damage clearly showing on it from the attack. Boss smirked before the four turned their attention to Arcana Fortune, which was glowing golden just as a roulette wheel materialized behind it.

“We have to stop it!” Noir exclaimed as she readied her axe along with Lucy, her persona prepared to litter it with bullets. However, as the bullets from Lucy flew towards the Shadow, the barrier showed itself once again, causing the bullets to fall harmlessly to the ground as the wheel continued to spin.

“That won’t work Noir! We have to defeat Arcana Strength first!” Queen reminded her fellow alumni as she sped past Arcana Strength’s attacks as the Shadow sent them out after righting itself. 

“R-right!” Noir responded abashedly.

“Hey, it's alrig-Argh!” Boss began, giving a warm smile towards Noir just as a blast of pure energy hit him, sending the older man sliding backwards with his outfit tearing slightly from the attack.

“Boss!” Knight called out, running to the man as he stopped himself and attempted to stand back up. As she reached him, she ripped her mask off to reveal Joan of Arc floating next to her. “Diarahan!” she nearly whispered as Joan of Arc pointed its blade at the staggering man, his wounds healing immediately as he straightened himself back up.

“Thanks!” Boss said, grinning at Knight who reciprocated the gesture before turning back to face the two Shadows as Arcana Strength was gathering energy around itself again.

“Agnes!” Queen commanded as she shot forward on her persona towards the shadow, nuclear energy crackling at the front just as Arcana Strength released a wave of pure energy at the teen. 

“Triple Down!” Noir shouted as she saw the attack nearly hit Queen, Lucy opening her skirt to reveal a giant gun. Before Boss or Knight could respond, three flurry of bullets escaped from the gun and pierced through the shoulders of Arcana Strength, causing the energy approaching Queen to slow just enough for her to narrowly avoid it before continuing rocketing towards the Shadow. 

“Wait a second!” Knight suddenly yelled out as she noticed the roulette behind Arcana Fortune begin to spin again. For some reason, it felt all too familiar to her, but she shook the thought out of her mind as she focused onto the wheel. It was still spinning, with only “All Up” and “All Down” on it with blue and red arrows splitting it into fours. Boss also noticed it as he began running towards the shadow, his knife outstretched with Maurice calmly floating behind him.

“Boss! Knight! There’s a way to change the tide of battle with the roulette! Try and push it to the blue arrow!” Oracle shouted, only receiving a nod in response from the two adults as their personas raised their hands towards the roulette wheel, still spinning but beginning to slow down. 

“Eigaon!”

“Kougaon!” 

They shouted in unison, standing side by side with their personas doing the same as two beams shot out from the personas’ hands, one blessed and the other cursed. The barrier around Arcana Fortune stopped the attacks from hitting it directly, but the pressure from the two beams of energy caused the roulette to move ever so slightly more as it slowed to a stop, landing on the blue arrow on “All Up” instead of the red arrow. Immediately everyone felt their blood boil as Queen shot forward even faster towards the injured Arcana Strength. Iron fencing shot towards her again, but psychokinetic energy coming from Lucy stopped and destroyed the attack before it could even get close to Queen.

“Atomic Flare!” she screamed as she spun around in circles, sending a giant ball of nuclear energy straight for the Shadow. 

“One Shot Kill!” Noir shouted, throwing her hand forward as a giant bullet careened out of Lucy’s gun. The bullet and nuclear energy met at Arcana Strength, with the One Shot Kill bursting through the thin veil around the ball of energy holding it together before creating a giant hole through the Shadow. The nuclear energy exploded instantly afterwards, enveloping the grievously wounded Shadow in the blue energy and disintegrating it instantly. 

As Arcana Strength died, the barrier surrounding Arcana Fortune fell, leaving it vulnerable. Boss and Knight noticed that Queen and Noir were exhausted from their combined attack and, looking over at each other, nodded before willing their personas to fly towards the remaining Shadow. Maurice shot in front of Joan of Arc and its eyes flashed black while it held out its hand towards the vulnerable Shadow. 

“Release!” Boss shouted as a mixture of all the elements shot from Maurice’s cane, hitting Arcana Fortune head on and causing it to slide backwards, its body barely staying together from the attack. 

“What?!” Oracle shouted as she saw Boss use all the elements at once. ‘There’s no way he could have done that… Wait a minute!’ an idea suddenly popped in her head as she checked the signals coming from Boss, and confirmed her suspicions. “He can take any attack thrown out and use it later. Amazing.”

“Knight, let’s finish this!” Boss roared as Almighty energy began to pulse around him and Maurice, the same happening with Knight and Joan of Arc. Both Maurice and Joan of Arc pointed towards the near dead Arcana Fortune with their cane and sword respectively, the Almighty energy beginning to coalesce at the tips.

“Guardian’s Wrath!” they both let out at the same time, their voices cracking as the ground began to shake from the attacks going on all around them along with the power their personas held. Then, in an instance, two beams of Almighty shot towards the Shadow, spinning around each other before combining into one attack, absolutely decimating Arcana Fortune in an instant along with stripping most of the concrete off the ground.

All the persona users stood there, the Arcana Shadows all dead, and let out a collective sigh. “We won…” Mitsuru exhaled as she and the other Shadow Ops began walking back to where the cars were parked, now with Akihiko’s motorcycle there. The other people began walking over there, the healers of the group casting healing spells to get everyone back into top shape as they all met each other.

“So… is it over?” Makoto asked, looking around to see any other shadows appearing, but none came. However, the sky continued to grow darker shades of green as the fog thickened around them.

“There’s no more shadows, if that’s what you’re asking,” Futaba notified the group, already back on the ground from Al Azif. “However, as I’m sure you noticed, this still isn’t over. Whatever is left to be done, it’s up to Akira and the other three.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Akira, we have to deal with those three statues before we can defeat Arcana Hanged Man!” Aigis shouted as the four dodged the wire-like tendrils from Arcana Hermit, separating the four with Akira and Elizabeth together while Sumire and Aigis with one another. 

“Sumire!” Akira screamed as he tried to slice through the tendrils, but a large jolt of electricity made him flinch back, barely able to keep hold of Paradise Lost. “Dammit!” Akira cursed as he and Elizabeth turned their attention towards Arcana Hanged Man along with the three statues underneath it, all of them crackling with their respective elements and prepared for the fight. 

“Sumire-san, we have to focus on the fight ahead of us!” Aigis said, urgency in her voice as she turned her attention towards Arcana Hermit which detached itself from its tendrils, growing new ones nearly instantly.

“You’re right,” Sumire said, turning to stand next to Aigis and raising the Sword of Sinai towards the Shadow. Then, just as the Shadow unleashed a bolt of electricity towards them, they both pushed off the ground, dodging the attack as Sumire ripped off her mask, summoning Ella behind her as Aigis chose Arahabaki, the Ultimate persona of her own Hermit Arcana appearing in front of her. Instantly, Sumire and Aigis felt their blood boil as the persona formed, both of them sprinting faster towards the Shadow even faster. Sumire leapt forward first, slashing her blade across the Shadow’s chest as Aigis jumped backwards, her arms outstretched and her fingers opening up. The Sword of Sinai cut through some of the tendrils that Arcana Hermit put up defensively, but no real damage was done to it as Aigis unleashed a hail of bullets. However, the Shadow narrowly moved its large body out of the way, slapping Sumire to the ground in the process. 

“Sumire-san!” Aigis yelled out as she slid on the ground, quickly finding her footing just as the Shadow was about to pierce Sumire with a sharp tendril. “Tetrakarn!” As Arcana Hermit’s tendril was about to skewer Sumire, an orange barrier formed in front of the prone girl, not only stopping the attack but deflecting the same amount of energy back into the body of the Shadow. Arcana Hermit stumbled backwards, a small amount of black blood oozing from the wound in its body.

Sumire quickly scrambled to her feet while the Shadow was distracted and, turning around after gaining some distance, willed Ella to attack. “Kougaon!” Sumire shouted as blessed energy gathered in Ella’s hands, but something felt off to her as a pillar of light energy shot up from beneath the shadow. 

_ “My dear, must you rely solely on him?” _ Ella’s voice echoed within Sumire’s mind as she noticed the attack did next to nothing to the Shadow. She scrunched her brow in confusion from her persona’s words when she heard a pained cry come from Aigis, and looked over to see an overwhelming amount of electricity coursing around her. 

_ “You have more than enough strength to stand on your own, yet you readily rely on him,” _ Ella continued as Sumire tried to force her to attack the Shadow, but to no avail.

“Listen to me!” Sumire screeched, the pained cries coming from Aigis getting to be too much for her.

“Sumire! You have to be strong!” She heard Akira roar from the other side of the tendrils. It sounded like he was in pain, but he was still looking out for her. “I know you have the strength to do it, just believe in yourself!”

Sumire’s heart skipped a beat as she felt the world around her slow down to a stop, all sound ceasing except for the blood rushing around her eardrums. ‘Believe in… myself? Stop relying on Akira?’ she thought to herself just as Ella turned to face her.

_ “My dear dancer, you must realize that your relationship goes two ways, just like a dance. If one side dominates the other, it leads to nothing but failure. He’s relying just as much on you as you are on him,”  _ Ella finished. Sumire stared in awe at her persona before something snapped within her, and Ella smiled at her.

‘I… I understand now, Ella,’ Sumire responded to her persona as her persona slowly floated towards her, reaching out her hand.

_ “Take my hand, and we shall dance together… as one!” _ Ella announced as Sumire brought her own arm forward, resting her hand on Ella’s as a blinding light surrounded the two. Sumire suddenly felt her senses melt, feeling nothing for a split second before they all rushed back to her. However, as the light died down, Sumire could no longer feel Ella’s hand under hers, but instead felt as if she was made of crystal and the realization finally hit her.

On the other side of the tendrils, Akira and Elizabeth were struggling slightly against the statues along with Arcana Hanged Man, only one statue remaining to hold it up. However, Akira was distracted by the fight on the other side, not able to put his all into the fight as he worried about Sumire. As he was yelling across, a fireball from the last remaining statue slammed into him, causing him to stumble backwards and spit out some blood. As he turned his attention back to the fight and Elizabeth moving towards him, they both felt an immense power awakening on the other side and, with a bright flash of light, Akira knew that Sumire had done it; she fused with Ella. 

_ “What are you waiting for, Akira?” _ Raoul echoed deep within Akira, shock coursing through his entire body before he grinned. 

_ ‘About damn time too!’  _ Akechi snarled at Akira as dark red flames began swirling around Akira, his eyes becoming demonic as the flames engulfed him completely. 

“Outstanding!” Elizabeth exclaimed as she stared at the transformation happening before her, noticing the fusion just on the other side of the tendrils. Arcana Hermit ceased its attack on Aigis, the girl barely able to stand, as it focused on the new fusion between Sumire and Ella.

“S-Sumire-san?” Aigis breathed out, not believing her eyes as she stared at the persona-human fusion just as another burst of power came from the other side, dark red flames revealing Raoul hovering proudly above the platform.

“Ella,” Raoul looked over and bowed slightly at the persona garbed in white.

“Raoul,” Ella curtsied back, a smile on her face as a wicked smirk crossed Raoul’s as they suddenly turned towards the two Shadows. All Elizabeth and Aigis could do was watch as they both rushed towards Arcana Hermit and the sole remaining statue of Arcana Hanged Man. Ella gracefully dodged a flurry of electric infused tendrils, slashing through some of them with her legs as she reached Arcana Hermit. Dodging the final blast of electricity, Ella glided behind the Shadow and, putting her palm out towards it, enveloped it with blessed energy, destroying it instantly.

Raoul, with cursed energy surrounding his hand, impaled the final statue. Arcana Hanged Man shook in the air for a second before plummeting downwards, but Raoul had other plans for it as his grin widened. The persona-human shot upwards towards it and, reaching it in a split second, kicked it high upwards. Raoul straightened his body, pointing his index finger towards the airborne Shadow. Dark red Almighty energy began swirling around the being, his eyes glowing even more as a demonic chuckle left his lips.

“Red Star”

Suddenly, the space above Arcana Hanged Man began to glow dark red, only slightly at first, before growing brighter and brighter. Then, without warning, a giant ball of the special Almighty energy engulfed it completely.

_ ‘Akira, wait! I want to demolish it myself!’  _ Akechi roared with Raoul, causing the persona-human to grin even more as he stopped the attack prematurely. The Shadow was at death’s door, barely still alive as it fell to the ground. Raoul descended after it, the other two looking confusedly at him while Ella only smiled as jet black energy began swirling around the persona-human. The Justice Arcana began to burn more and more within Raoul to the point that he could barely control it, but he simply allowed it to run wild as Akechi’s laughter grew louder within him.

“Thank you, Akira… for giving me the chance to kill them with my bare hands!” Hereward suddenly burst into existence next to Raoul, his bow in hand as he charged towards the prone Shadow. The buff persona kicked the near dead Shadow off the platform into the blackness of space and, pulling back on his bow, released an arrow surrounded by Almighty energy. The arrow pierced the Shadow straight through the chest, a large gaping hole where it passed through as the shadow burst into black blood and dust. Raoul and Ella smiled over at Hereward as the persona had a wild grin on its face as it disappeared.

“What… just happened?” Aigis breathed out in disbelief as the two persona-humans touched back down onto the ground, light surrounding Ella and dark red flames surrounding Raoul to reveal Sumire and Akira standing next to each other, staring into each other’s eyes as Elizabeth and Aigis rushed over to them.

“I knew you had it within you, Sumire,” Akira’s voice barely reached above a whisper. 

“Thank you, Akira,” Sumire responded in kind. Both of them had large smiles on their faces, but also showed signs of immense exhaustion.

“That was nothing short of spectacular, you two,” Elizabeth said, clapping her hands together. However, just as Akira and Sumire turned their attention to her, they heard an ear splitting roar come from directly behind them.

“Dodge!” Akira shouted as he pulled Sumire near his body as he dove to the right, with Elizabeth and Aigis dodging to the left. A giant hand crashed down onto the middle of the platform, which cracked under its sheer weight and broke. The four were sent into a freefall into the nothingness of space as Akira turned his body to see Erebus staring directly at him. 

“RAOUL!” Akira roared, his voice cracking as he felt his body melt once again as he fused with his persona, but this time he pushed all his energy into it again, causing Raoul to become the same size he was during the fight with YHWH. Still falling, Raoul scooped up the other three, Sumire too exhausted and nearly unconscious from fusing for the first time, and shot back up towards Erebus.

“You all stay here; I’ll finish this, once and for all,” Raoul commanded as he placed them on a part of the platform that was still intact.

“Wait, Akira!” Sumire shrieked, but Raoul had already turned his back to face Erebus.

“So much pain… How can this much negative emotion exist in the world?” Raoul questioned as he stared directly into one set of Erebus’ eyes. The amalgamation of humanity’s darkest emotions roared as it swatted at Raoul, who dashed backwards to avoid the giant hand and slammed his heel into the front head of the being, causing it to flinch back in pain. “All of humanity… I can feel their suffering…” Raoul said through gritted teeth; the Will of the Masses were writhing within him as Raoul felt as if it was trying to connect with Erebus. Raoul dodged another swipe from Erebus along with a beam of the black smoke, which demolished the first platform in the area that led up to this point. 

“Akira! Please, be careful!” Sumire shouted as loud as she could, unable to hear the words coming from Raoul.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What the hell is going on?” Ryuji questioned as the ground beneath began to shake violently just as the clouds above Shibuya opened up. Everyone let out a collective gasp as a clear image was shown: Raoul fighting Erebus in what appeared to be outer space.

“Is… is that Akira?” Makoto shouted as everyone’s eyes were set on Raoul. The persona dodged an attack from Erebus only to get hit by a rush of shadows surrounding him. 

“No!” Yusuke screamed, his voice cracking as the Thieves leader was encompassed by the shadow beam from Erebus.

“D-dammit!” they heard Raoul roar as he broke out of the attack, flying backwards as if to rethink his attack. However, Erebus didn’t give him any room to breath as another swipe caught Raoul off guard, sending him flying down into one of the platforms. Everyone looked on in silence, horrified as the strongest member was getting thrown around by this creature.

“Don’t give into that thing, Akira!” Sojiro suddenly yelled, throwing his right arm in front of him and clasping his hand into a fist. “You’ve come this far, you can’t give up now!”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Heh, you’re right, Sojiro,” Raoul spit out some blood as he shakily got back up, staring up at Erebus as the creature turned its attention back to the Great Seal. “Oh no you don’t!” Raoul roared as he shot back up, red Almighty energy enveloping his hand as he shot past the beast, slamming his energy infused hand into Erebus’ face just as it was about to reach the Great Seal again. Raoul noticed then that the Great Seal was in disrepair as Erebus fell backwards, with only a few bindings left on Minato that continued to hold him up. ‘I’ll protect it till the e- damn it!’ Suddenly, Raoul felt exhaustion hit him harder than ever before, immediately beginning to faze out to reveal Akira.

“Akira-san, I believe in you!” 

“You are the only one capable of handling this threat, Akira!”

Raoul heard Aigis and Elizabeth shout from below, and suddenly he felt his own powers rise again, stopping himself from falling unconscious. However, he barely was able to dodge an attack from Erebus, his entire body screaming at him to stop.

“Akira, you got this, man!”

“I won’t forgive you if you die here!”

“Akira, you are the strongest in this world! I have faith in your abilities!”

“You’ve beaten opponents just as strong, Akira!”

“Please… come back safe, Akira!”

“Leader, there’s no doubt in my mind that you can do this!”

“Akira, even if the world stands against you, I will stand and fight alongside you!”

“Akira, do you hear us? We’re all cheering you on, so give that thing something from us!”

“Kid… no, Akira! You’ve taught me so much in such a short amount of time, and I consider you as my own child. Know that you have a father that cares about you!”

The calls and shouts from Akira’s confidants rang around him as he stared down at Erebus, an overwhelming power awakening within him. Sojiro’s words made him tear up as he descended to meet Erebus, rage being the primary emotion in its eyes.

“Akira, please… Come back safe!” Sumire shouted again at Raoul. The persona-human fusion gave a slight nod with a small smile towards the three, directed straight for Sumire before returning his attention back towards Erebus. Power coursed through Raoul as he shot high into the sky, Erebus looking up with rage in its eyes as it began to fire another shadowy beam. Raoul suddenly stopped mid flight before falling back down, scraping his wings against the beam as the dark red Almighty energy enveloped him completely. Erebus, seeing the attack coming, tried to fire another beam with its free head, but Raoul began spinning like a drill and positioned himself towards the other head. Slicing through the shadow energy building up, Raoul shot lengthwise through Erebus, from one head to the other while tearing through the inside of the monster. As Raoul shot out of the other head, he turned around, the red Almighty energy bursting off his body and coalescing in his hand.

“Phantom Ender!” Raoul roared so loud that the persona users on the Earth could hear him as he fired the ball of energy towards the amalgamate. The Almighty energy shot towards Erebus, boring into its shadowy body as Raoul held out his arm. Then, flipping his arm so his palm faced upwards, he shut his hand into a fist. As he did so, the ball of Almighty energy exploded within Erebus, enveloping it in dark red energy as the monster let out a pained roar.

Raoul, having used up all his energy, descended back to a platform nearby and burned away, revealing Akira standing. “Senpai!” Sumire shouted, summoning Ella using her evoker and carrying her, Aigis, and Elizabeth over to Akira as he fell to his knees.

“H-hey, you guys,” Akira let out, barely able to look up at them as he attempted a smile. Sumire put her hands on his chest to help support him, worry in her eyes while Akira looked at her. 

“What is it, Akira?” she asked, curious as to why he was staring so intently at her.

“When did you have time to change, Sumire?” Akira jokingly questioned despite the situation, causing Sumire to look down to see that she had changed. She was now in a pure white dress with metallic stockings coming up to her thighs, paired along with a flower crown atop her head.

“Wh-what?” Sumire stuttered, looking around frantically just to see Aigis and Elizabeth smiling at her.

“It’s because you and Ella became one being, Sumi,” Akira reassured her, trying to get up. However, his legs gave out as he began to fall forward, Sumire, who still had her hands on him, catching him before he did.

“We need to get out of here, Senp-” Sumire began just as the four heard Erebus roar from above them.

“H-how is it still alive?” Aigis questioned, a feeling of dread in her gut. If Akira couldn’t beat it, how could any of them? Erebus gathered shadowy energy in both its mouths, rage deep in its eyes as it stared directly at Akira. To the three’s surprise, Akira let out a low chuckle as his arm draped around Sumire fell to his side and he took a step forward.

“Akira?” Sumire breathed out, her confusion breaking into realization and fear as he lifted off the ground. “Akira!”

_ “Are you sure about this, Akira? This is a one way street. Barring some miracle occuring, the chances of survival is near zero,” _ Raoul echoed within Akira’s mind, but Akira was determined to end this. 

“I’m sure, Raoul,” Akira muttered to himself, a deep chuckle coming from Raoul.

_ ‘So, this is how you go out, huh?’  _ Akechi snarled as Akira continued to rise into the air.  _ ‘Heh, go figure; see you on the other side, Akira.’ _

“Thank you, Akechi,” Akira smiled to himself as he came to a stop in front of one of Erebus’ heads. He reached deep within himself, taking control of the Will of the Masses and combining the power with that of the Universe Arcana as he reached out for Erebus’ head. Erebus fired a beam at Akira, but it barely fazed him as he continued to reach. As Akira placed his hand on Erebus, he felt the pain, the sorrow, the anger; all the negative emotions of humanity flowed through him at once. Tears began streaming down his face as he felt his own friends pain; Ryuji’s lost chance to run, Ann nearly losing Shiho, Yusuke finding out the truth of Madarame, Makoto dealing with the Kaneshiro case, Futaba’s guilt over her mother’s death, Haru’s father’s death, Morgana not feeling like he belonged. Finally, he felt Sumire’s pain, her guilt, her anger at losing Kasumi, her desire to become someone else. 

All these things swirled inside him, becoming nearly unbearable as the tears wouldn’t stop flowing; however, Erebus stopped its attack. Sumire, Aigis, even Elizabeth felt connected with Akira; it was as if he was pulling their pain within their hearts out of them while still leaving the memories. “Akira, please stop!” Sumire begged, but tears wouldn’t come as her grief vanished.

“All your pain… your suffering… It doesn’t have to lead to death!” Akira announced, his voice ringing clearly in everyone’s head on Earth.

“A-Akira?” Morgana stuttered, looking around for his partner; he didn’t see him, but it was as if their hearts were connected. The people around the persona users that were unconscious began to stand up, rubbing their eyes before realization hit their faces.

“Wait, is he still fighting?”

“If he can deal with this pain, then so can I!”

“Was I really wishing for death? Maybe…”

The group heard from the people closest to them as they all felt… lighter. Like a weight was taken off their chest.

Akira grit his teeth, the tears quickening even more as Erebus began to shrink in size. “I can’t promise you that no pain will come to you in your life… but I do know that it's necessary!” Akira shouted, his voice still clear in everyone’s minds. “It is a catalyst for you to start over, to better yourself! Use that pain to push yourself even farther, to become the best you that you can become!” Erebus continued to shrink, roaring as Akira continued on.

“I believe that everyone has a life to look forward to; don’t let these negative emotions control you anymore!” Akira roared, Erebus becoming so small that it curled up into a ball in Akira’s hand. His entire body shaking, Akira focused his power into it, causing it to explode into black smoke. “It’s all over… It’s time for humanity to carve its own path forward, without any interventions,” Akira muttered to himself, only Sumire able to hear him as he closed his eyes and fell back to the platform. 

“Thanatos!” Elizabeth announced, summoning her persona to catch Akira and laid him gently on the ground.

“Akira!” Sumire shouted, touching his face and sighed in relief; he was still alive. Sumire brought Akira’s unconscious body into a tight hug, tears of joy running down her face as Aigis and Elizabeth smiled at her just as the ground underneath them began to shake.

“It’s time,” Akira muttered, as he surprisingly broke from the hug, barely positioning his body to stare at the Great Seal.

“What do you mean, Akira-sa-” Aigis began, but realization hit her as a bright light began shining from the center of Minato. It grew larger and larger until eventually enveloping Minato and the entirety of the Great Seal while the four only sat in stunned silence, Akira smiling to himself as he felt his Universe Arcana pulse with another one. The light coming from the Great Seal continued expanding, forcing the four to cover their eyes when a gust of wind blew past them, and then the light was gone.

“So, you’re the other Universe holder,” a familiar voice to Aigis and Elizabeth called out in front of the four as they unshielded their eyes to see a blue haired young man standing before them wearing a school uniform with a red armband stitched into his blazer with “S.E.E.S” written on it. Akira simply nodded and smiled, noticing the tears in Aigis’ eyes well up as she placed her hand over her mouth as well as Elizabeth’s satisfied gaze on the man in front of them.

“Minato-san?” Aigis’ voice barely reached the young man, who turned his attention to her and smiled and nodded. Aigis broke into a sprint, throwing her arms around the blue haired man as tears rolled freely down her cheeks.

“I’m… sorry I worried you, Aigis,” Minato comforted the girl as she continued to cry, burying her head into his shoulder and gripping him even tighter as he did the same. Sumire and Akira smiled at the two as they stood there holding each other.

“We should get going; we don’t have any more business here,” Elizabeth said, with Akira and Sumire nodding at her. Sumire helped Akira to his feet, his entire body numb, but he still felt satisfied. The three walked over to Minato and Aigis still in each other’s arms, the two barely noticing the three as light began to shine around them.

“What the?!” Ryuji shouted out as a flash of light shone suddenly in front of the group, dying down as soon as it began to reveal Elizabeth, Akira, Sumire, Aigis and Minato standing in front of them. 

“It… can’t be!” Yukari nearly whispered as her eyes landed on Minato, the rest of the Shadow Ops not daring to believe their eyes either.

“Minato? Is that you?” Akihiko asked tentatively as Minato opened his eyes, still holding onto Aigis as he turned his face towards them.

“Yeah, I’m back,” Minato calmly stated just as the Shadow Ops rushed over to him.

“I can’t believe it! You’re actually back!” Junpei exclaimed as he rubbed Minato’s head, feeling his scalp underneath his hand.

“How did this happen? I thought you were sealed until all of humanity would stop wishing for death?” Fuuka asked, tears streaming down her face as she stared at her long lost friend. However, before anyone could respond, the Thieves all rushed towards Akira.

“Hey you big bastard! You did it again!” Ryuji shouted, lightly punching Akira in the arm as the leader grinned over at him.

“I’m so glad that you came back safe, Akira,” Makoto sighed, a small smile on her face as Sojiro approached Akira. 

“Akira, I’m proud of you,” Sojiro said, bringing Akira in for a hug. Sumire let go of Akira as Sojiro’s arms wrapped his arms around the teen, Akira doing the same as he had a content smile on his face. Elizabeth watched this all happen with a smile on her face; her journey was complete. However, there was a hint of sadness on her face that no one caught. Akira, still in Sojiro’s arms, let out a sigh.

“No more wishing for death…” Akira whispered, his voice somewhat airy as he closed his eyes.

“Senpai?” Sumire hesitantly questioned, looking up at her beloved’s face. As she stared at him, she saw a sparkle come off his face, and then another one.

“Akira, what’s going on?!” Yusuke demanded, fear breaking through his voice as Akira’s body began to glimmer.

“No… don’t tell me…!” Morgana began, but choked on his own words as Akira broke from the hug and took a step back, a wide smile on his face.

“Thank you all so much, for everything,” Akira said calmly, staring each of his friends in the eyes.

“Don’t act so calm, Akira!” Ann shouted at him, tears forming in everyone’s eyes.

“This can’t be the end!” Makoto added on, but Akira shook his head.

“I used everything I had and then some to defeat Erebus; I can’t hold out any longer,” Akira said.

“Akira…” Ryuji breathed out, tears streaming down his face. “Please man, don’t go!”

“What are we going to do without you, Akira?” Haru shouted, her face distorted with distraught.

“Your justice can’t end like this, Akira!” Sae nearly screamed at the teen.

“Akira, please, fight it!” Futaba sobbed. Akira’s body began to glow even more, the Shadow Ops members looking on in sadness, especially Minato.

“Please, stay here with us, Akira!” Sojiro yelled, reaching out for Akira, but the teen began to lift into the air. Sumire’s shock broke as tears flowed from her eyes, her heart aching as she reached upwards for her beloved.

“NO! DON’T LEAVE ME!” she screamed, her voice breaking with grief as Akira gave her a sad smile.

“Sumire, I love you so much. Thank you… for loving me until the end…” Akra’s voice rang out over them as he fully disappeared. The Thieves all looked in horror before Sumire let out a shriek, grief and despair flowing through her as she fell to her knees. The rest of the Thieves looked down at the ground, tears freely flowing as the all began to sob for their leader. 

The members of the Shadow Ops looked at them, sympathizing with them just as realization crossed Ryuji’s tear streaked face as he looked up at Elizabeth.

“You!” he screamed, his voice cracking as he shakily marched over to her. “You involved him in this all and got him killed! I’ll never forgive you!” Ryuji balled his hands into fists as he threw a punch at Elizabeth’s face, who simply took it and fell to the ground.

“Ryuji!” Ann shouted, tears still streaming down her face. The blonde boy stood above Elizabeth before falling to his knees, his tears forming small puddles on the ground as he wept violently. Minato stared in pity at the Thieves, taking a step forward from his friends.

“Thank you, everyone,” was all he said, the Thieves except for Sumire and Ryuji looking up at him with tears in their eyes. “Thank you for being with him until the end. I know that Akira was happy just seeing you all one last time; he found his answer to life, just as I did so long ago. My friends came to see me just before my consciousness faded, and that made me happy when they did. I’m positive Akira felt the same,” Minato ended with looking up at where Akira had been, a smile on his face as Yukari took a step forward as well, only towards Ryuji and knelt in front of him.

“I know the anger you're feeling right now; it filled me as well when Minato died,” Yukari told Ryuji, the blonde looking up weakly at the smiling woman. “However, you have to realize that he died happy protecting you,” Yukari pointed her finger at Ryuji, who stared at her in shock. “Knowing that helped me move on from his death, and I hope that you can find strength to move past Akira-kun’s.” Yukari finished, standing back up as Elizabeth finally also floated back to her feet.

“If I may,” Elizabeth began, everyone’s attention going to her except for Sumire, “I believe that “died” is not the correct term. What Akira did was use the full power of the Will of the Masses along with the power of the Universe Arcana; using that much energy proved too much for his physical body.”

“What’s your point?” Sojiro asked sharply, tears still in his eyes.

“His life essence still exists in the universe; he just can’t hold a physical form,” Elizabeth explained bluntly. Everyone looked confusedly at her before slowly nodding their heads; they still didn’t quite understand, but they knew that Akira was gone. However, it seemed as if Minato’s and Yukari’s words reached most of their hearts, except for one. Aigis noticed Sumire still sobbing on the ground and walked towards her, sitting on her legs and softly running her hands through Sumire’s hair.

“Sumire-san, I… understand the pain you're going through right now,” Aigis began, Sumire unable to look up at her. “The grief, the despair of your loved one disappearing. The thoughts of never being able to see him again, to never be able to touch them again; I went through that as well.” Sumire shakily moved her head to look at Aigis, who was smiling but also had tears in her eyes. “However, when I realized that Minato died to protect me, that made me feel better and I felt as if I grew closer to him.” 

All Sumire did was stare at Aigis as the robotic girl pulled her into a hug, unable to return it as she began to sob again. However, she felt something stir within her; acceptance. As Sumire grieved for what she lost, the rest of the Thieves silently looked to the sky, faced with a future without Akira while the Shadow Ops stared at Minato, hopeful for a future to spend with their former leader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... that happened. Like I said in a comment, this would end in heartbreak, and I keep my promises. There will be one last chapter after this covering the aftermath of Akira's death and the return of Minato, so I hope that you stick around for that. As for future fics within this series, I'm still brainstorming ideas. I'm sorry that this chapter took so long, but I was finding myself slightly burnt out and needed some time off.


	16. Chapter 16

Sumire didn’t know how to feel as she looked in the mirror. She was in her classic leotard that she wore for her gymnastics meets, and she should have been excited because she was about to perform in the National Meet. ‘I wish Akira were here to see it…’ she thought to herself, tears beginning to form in her eyes before shaking them away. ‘No, he wouldn’t want me to cry about it! Today is my big day!’

It had been three months since Akira lost his physical body, and it had taken all that time for Sumire to cope with the fact that he was no longer around. Today was supposed to be his eighteenth birthday, March 5th, as well as the National meet for gymnastics. 

Sumire slapped her cheeks as her mind began to wander further, stopping herself before she broke down again. “I need to be strong; for myself, and for Akira,” she told herself in the mirror, quickly wiping away her tears as her coach knocked on the door.

“Sumire, you’re almost up!” Coach Hiraguchi yelled from the other side.

“Alright! I’ll be out soon!” Sumire yelled back, trying to prevent her voice from cracking. She held her breath for a moment, then let out a sigh of relief as she heard Coach Hiraguchi’s footsteps fade. Sumire turned back to the mirror, a determined look in her eyes before grabbing her ribbon and headed for the door. As she opened it, she was face to face with Coach Hiraguchi smiling at her.

“Are you ready?” her coach asked, thankfully not asking about Sumire’s slightly red eyes.

“Yes!” Sumire responded confidently. Coach Hiraguchi’s smile grew even more at the answer as she turned towards the gymnasium.

“You’re up next, so let’s go!” Hiraguchi firmly stated, Sumire closely following behind her and into the gymnasium where they watched the current contestant finish their routine with a roar of applause coming from the crowd. If Sumire was the same from a year back, she would have been nervous and tried to get her mind off competing as hard as she could, but instead she could feel her heart race with excitement.

“And for our next contestant… Miss Sumire Yoshizawa!” the announcer called out and, with a push from her coach, Sumire ran out to the mat and took up her starting position. The gymnasium instantly quieted, all eyes on her as the music to her routine began. 

Sumire’s routine was the best one she ever performed to date; she felt energized the entire time, super focused on the current move she was doing and what was coming next. All eyes were glued onto her as she gracefully glided across the floor, twirling her ribbon around, jumping into the air and landing with ease. Finally, she threw her ribbon in the air and spun around three times before catching it, ending her routine with a final pose. The gymnasium was completely quiet for a split second, Sumire only able to hear her own breaths when the entire gymnasium shook with rapturous applause. Sumire broke from her pose and happily walked off towards a beaming Coach Hiraguchi, a feeling of pride filling her heart.

“Fantastic work out there, Sumire!” Coach Hiraguchi congratulated the girl as they made their way back to the general waiting room. Sumire was happy, ecstatic even about her performance, but something was eating away in the back of her mind. Coach Hiraguchi noticed the sudden shift in the girl, but also noticed the look in her eyes; she didn’t want to talk about it. With one last “Congratulations!”, Coach Hiraguchi left the waiting room. The other girls in there gave their congratulations to Sumire as well, Sumire thanking each one until she was able to be alone with her thoughts.

‘I wish Akira was able to be here to see me perform,’ she thought, a pang of sadness shooting through her heart. ‘None of the others were able to come either due to school starting in a week, which I completely understand. I miss him so much.’ Tears began forming in Sumire’s eyes, but instead of wiping them away she simply turned to face the wall, the other girls whispering to each other but not daring to bother the girl.

“Akira… I love you, so much…” Sumire whispered into the wall, a single tear falling from her face and onto her hand. Suddenly, Sumire felt exhausted as she let out a yawn. ‘It’s probably because of the meet,’ Sumire thought to herself just as a woman came in to inform the girls that the awards ceremony was about to happen and that they should line up in the entrance to the Gymnasium. Sumire and the rest of the gymnasts did so, the girls chatting to each other about how their routines went and generally being friendly. A few of them tried to strike up conversations with Sumire, but she wasn’t in the mood to hold a conversation. She tried her best to be friendly, but the girls realized she didn’t want to talk and respectively moved away from her. 

As they all walked into the gymnasium and filed into numerous lines facing the crowd, Sumire heard the crowd roar. She tried searching for her parents, which she found exactly where they said they would be. Her mood lightened as she saw their happy faces, waving at her and yelling something down at her. However, she couldn’t hear them over the rest of the crowd just as the announcer began with the awards ceremony. It was then that Sumire realized how nervous she was, not even realizing that the man was giving out the medals now. 

“-second place, with a score of 87.6, Himari Sato!” the announcer called out, the crowd erupting into loud cheers again as Sumire looked around her at the other girls; there were around fifty girls around her, all with the same look of anxiousness that she was feeling.

“And now, for the grand champion of the 2019 National meet, with a score of…” the announcer stopped, making sure he was reading it correctly, “95.9,” he paused again, this time for dramatic effect. Sumire’s heart was beating out of her chest, her breaths becoming shallow as the room swirled around her.

“Sumire Yoshizawa!”

Sumire could have fainted there, but the adrenaline pumping through her veins was keeping her conscious as she shakily got to her feet and began walking towards the podium. Every step felt like it took hours, everyone’s eyes on her as the crowd continued cheering. As Sumire climbed onto the podium with second place and third place next to her, she scanned the crowd and locked eyes with her parents. She saw both of them crying tears of joy as they were both beaming at her, causing her own eyes to well up with tears. She quickly shook them away as the announcer came back on.

“And these, ladies and gentlemen, are your medalists!” he roared into the mic over the cheers of the audience, which only became louder as the second and third place medalists began waving at the crowd, the flowers they received in their other hand. Sumire followed suit, laying her flowers across her left arm as she waved at the audience, her eyes scanning it half-hazardly when she stopped and her heart skipped a beat. She saw someone with a jacket on with their face covered, but she swore that the figure's body type seemed familiar. However, just as she was staring at the figure, the workers began guiding the gymnasts out of the gymnasium, all except the three medalists as a worker led them over to take a seat as the rest of them quickly set up a single podium for an interview. The second and third place finishers both began talking excitedly to each other as Sumire sat down in one of the chairs, still not fully believing that she won. 

Just as the second place finish began to turn around to talk with Sumire, the announcer’s mic blared back on. “Alllright everyone! It’s time for some interviews with our three medalists! We’ll start with our third place finalist, Aiko Watanabe!” the announcer called out, Himari taking a seat next to Sumire as Aiko walked up and onto the podium. Sumire could barely pay attention to the interview as her mind was racing too fast, quickly forgetting about the strange figure as she reminded herself over and over again that she won.

“And now, for our champion: Sumire Yoshizawa!” the announcer called out, Sumire letting out a small “eep” as she thought she had more time. However, it was clear she was engrossed in her own thoughts longer than she thought, and she quickly moved over and stood atop the podium.

“My, what a performance Sumire!” the announcer exclaimed. “You beat out second place by nearly 10 points! That sort of achievement we never get to see in the gymnastics world. Tell me, how are you feeling right now?” The announcer pushed the microphone in front of Sumire’s face, and she began to panic. 

“U-uhh, I-I feel g-gr-great!” Sumire stuttered, the entire gymnasium quiet as the audience stared at only her. Her eyes darted around until landing on her parents once again, with her mom motioning to take a deep breath. She did just that as her heart rate began to slow down. “I mean, this is surreal for me as a gymnast. Me and my sister promised each other we would reach the top of the gymnastics world, but I never actually expected myself to be at this point so soon.”

“Oh? And where is your sister now?” the announcer asked, Sumire’s parents wincing as they expected Sumire to shut down by the question. However, they were pleasantly surprised as she smiled at the announcer.

“She’s not with us anymore I’m afraid, but she lives on inside my heart, pushing me to be my best. Knowing she’s watching over me, I know that I’ll be fine!” Sumire exclaimed, proudly staring directly at her parents as she saw them beginning to cry.

“M-my, that is wonderful to hear that you have such great memories of you sister,” the announcer sniffled slightly, tears forming in his eyes as well. “Is there anyone else that you would like to thank?” 

“Of course! I would like to thank Coach Hiraguchi firstly for helping me reach this point; without her, my dream would have never been reality. I would also like to thank my parents and my friends; they help push me to be a better person every day, and my parents helped me so much over the years. Mom, dad! Thank you so much!” Sumire exclaimed, waving at her parents who waved back, the crowd giving them an applause before dying back down. The announcer was about to take back his mic, but Sumire held it to her face as she remembered one last person.

“Th-there’s one more person I would like to thank…” Sumire began again, her voice beginning to shake as an image of Akira’s smiling face filled her mind. A tear began streaming down her face, her throat beginning to feel dry as she tried to speak. “I-I would like to th-thank my bo-boyfriend, the per-person I love the mo-most in this world,” Sumire stuttered, the announcer waiting patiently for her to finish. Sumire took another deep breath and closed her eyes, feeling another bout of exhaustion hit her as she reopened her eyes. “I would like to thank Akira Kurusu. I love you so much, and it pains me that you can’t be he-”

“I love you too, Sumire!” a familiar voice shouted from the audience, causing everyone to look at the same hooded figure Sumire noticed earlier now standing in the stands. The figure slowly pushed back the hood, Sumire gasping into the mic as she saw the face of her beloved.

“A-Akira?!” Sumire whispered, the mic still picking it up as tears began rolling down her cheeks. The announcer looked back and forth between Sumire and Akira, the latter of whom was smiling sweetly down at the redhead, before bringing the mic back to his own face.

“Why don’t we bring this Akira down here? It seems he means a lot to our champion here, so come on down!” The announcer called out, Sumire’s heart beginning to beat faster as she saw Akira bump into a few people on accident. ‘Is… is this a dream?’ Sumire thought to herself as Akira reached the bottom of the stairs, security allowing onto the mat. Sumire couldn’t contain herself as she saw him calmly walking towards her as she jumped off the podium to the announcer’s surprise and threw herself into Akira’s arms.

“I… I’m not dreaming, am I?” she whispered. Akira gave her a little pinch on her arm, a tiny “ow” escaping her lips before she realized that it was real. “But… but how? How are you back?” she asked, again in a hushed tone as the announcer made his way towards the two.

“I’ll tell you later,” Akira informed her as the beaming announcer reached the couple.

“That was quite the reaction! Akira, you must be someone quite special to be able to have our first place medalist react like that!” the announcer exclaimed with a roar of approval coming from the audience. “Tell me; what made Sumire react like that?” The announcer moved the mic in front of Akira’s face, Sumire looking up at him with an almost pleading look in her eyes.

“Well, I live far away from her and I wasn’t originally going to be able to make it to this meet,” Akira explained, not even showing a trace of deception as he continued. “We haven’t seen each other since last December, so it's only fair that she reacts this way.”

“True that is!” the announcer announced, before checking his watch. “Oh! Look at the time ladies and gentlemen! This meet has come to a close, so that means so has our exciting interview has come to a close!”

Just as the announcer said that, he turned the microphone off and turned back to talk to Sumire and Akira, but the latter took the former by the hand and hurriedly took her to the waiting room to grab her clothes. 

“Se-Senpai! How are you back?” Sumire asked again once there was no one around or they were too busy talking with family or friends.

“Hmm… honestly, I’m not sure myself,” Akira began, putting his hand to his chin. Sumire was about to interject just as a flash of light came from beside them. They both turned to see themselves face to face with Elizabeth. Sumire’s head darted around the room, but nobody was paying them any mind as she returned her attention back to the velvet room attendant.

“Elizabeth? What are you doing here?” Sumire asked, taken aback by the sudden appearance of the woman after four months of her being gone. 

“I felt the presence of the second Universe Arcana reappear on the Earth, meaning that Akira had been reborn. Or, at the very least, his body has returned to its physical state,” Elizabeth calmly explained, Sumire and Akira still very confused.

“Wait, do you know why I’m back?” Akira asked, looking around to make sure no one was eavesdropping.

“I do indeed,” Elizabeth said, gaining the couple’s undivided attention. “Akira has returned due to a miracle of the Faith Arcana.” Elizabeth stared directly at Sumire, who only stared back even more confused than before. “Due to the Will of the Masses within Akira and the powers it has, he has regained his physical form. However, it is due to you, Sumire, that he is back. Your outstandingly strong bond with him coupled with the fact that the Faith Arcana possesses miraculous powers, your wish to see Akira has brought him back.”

“Wait, so he’s here… because of me?” Sumire whispered, looking between Elizabeth and Akira, both of them smiling at her. Before she could react any further, Akira pulled her into a tight hug.

“Thank you, Sumire,” Akira whispered as he held her close, some of the girls now starting to take notice. Some swooned, some retched while others grumbled with each other in jealousy. However, none of them took notice of Elizabeth due to the masking aura that Elizabeth surrounded herself with.

“Wh-why are you thanking me?” Sumire asked before kicking herself for the question, knowing the response before Akira even said it.

“Because you saved me yet again,” Akira spoke as softly as he could into Sumire’s ear, sending chills all over her body as she blushed furiously as Akira pulled back from her ear. Before she could recover, he pulled her in again and kissed her, both of them closing their eyes as Sumire melted within his arms. All the stress, the despair she felt over the last four months, the loneliness; it all faded away, being replaced by joy, happiness, and love. 

“That is all I wished to say to you two, goodbye,” Elizabeth said, light beginning to cover her once again.

“Wait, Elizabeth!” Akira exclaimed, some of the girls looking at him curiously. “Thank you again. If at all possible, could you get Minato and the Shadow Ops and meet me and the others at Leblanc later today? I want to let them know I’m back.” Elizabeth simply nodded, smiling at the couple hand in hand as she vanished with a flash of light, leaving Akira and Sumire alone. 

The waiting room was mostly empty with one or two stragglers left, but they minded their own business as Sumire led Akira to her locker to grab her clothes. “I need to go get changed, and then I’ll be right o-” Sumire began speaking.

“Oh Sumire!” Shinichi called out behind her, seemingly ignoring Akira as he didn’t recognize him from behind. “Did you think you could escape our grasp, our little champion? Oh, and who are y- Akira!?” Shinichi and Akane exclaimed as they got a look at Akira’s face; Sumire had told them what had happened on Christmas, so their shock was justified.

“W-wait… but how are you… what?” Akane stuttered in confusion with Akira putting his hand up to stop her.

“It’s really complicated, but just know that I’m back for good thanks to Sumire,” Akira explained as simply he could. Shinichi and Akane looked at each other before both bringing Akira and Sumire in for a group hug.

“We missed you so much, Akira!” Shinichi exclaimed as he rustled Akira’s hair. Akira let the older man do it as he noticed Sumire’s burning hot face as she was pressed up into his chest.

“I’m sorry I worried you two so much,” Akira apologized as the four broke from the hug, Sumire looking dizzy from embarrassment. 

“It’s alright, Akira,” Akane assured him. “Sumire told us that you did what was necessary to save humanity, so we forgive you.”

“Sumire, you should go change now!” Shinichi told his daughter, who quickly nodded her head as she sprinted into the changing room. The three talked idly for a while, Akira asking what he had missed while he was gone. Shinichi only told him that Sumire was practicing harder than ever in preparation for this meet, wanting to make Akira proud on his birthday no less.

“Alright, I’m back!” Sumire called out as she left the changing room in her normal spring attire.

“You’re as beautiful as ever, Sumi,” Akira said without missing a beat, causing Sumire to burn bright red and Akane to squeal in happiness. Despite her being embarrassed, Sumire slowly walked over to Akira and clung to his body.

“Thank you, Senpai…” she whispered as she looked up at Akira, still not fully believing what was happening. 

“Alright you two,” Shinichi began, clapping his hands together to get the couple’s attention. “We should probably get going now; I’m sure everyone is already on their way to Leblanc, Sumire.”

“Wait, they’re already meeting today?” Akira asked as the four began walking towards the exit of the gymnasium and into the humid April weather.

“Well, um… We agreed to meet up after my meet today to celebrate whatever place I got,” Sumire began as the four got into Shinichi’s car. “Also, since today is your birthday, we wanted to celebrate it…” Sumire looked down sadly, seemingly forgetting that Akira was in the car with her.

“Hey silly, I’m here now!” Akira lightly exclaimed, guiding Sumire’s face gently upwards with his hand until she was staring into his eyes. “We can celebrate both those things together!” Sumire’s eyes widened in shock as tears began building up once again, suddenly throwing herself into Akira’s body as Shinichi pulled out of the parking lot.

“A-Akira!” Sumire cried into Akira’s chest, her parents sharing a quick smile with each other as they got onto the turnpike. Akira smiled down at his girlfriend as he placed his hand on her head and began running it through her hair, holding her close with his other hand while they drove to Yongen-Jaya. For the first time in four months, Sumire felt at peace. That life was going to be okay. 

Her tears dried a while ago but she still held onto Akira, his warm body being a constant reminder that he was truly back to stay. Sumire’s eyes began to close, and she fell asleep within Akira’s arms. Akane looked back as she heard Sumire’s steady breaths, and smiled as she saw that Akira had fallen asleep as well. 

“They’re perfect for each other, don’t you think Shinichi?” Akane asked as she continued looking back at the peacefully resting couple, their hands locked with Sumire’s head on Akira’s chest.

“I completely agree,” Shinichi chuckled, keeping his eyes on the road.

“After Akira… well, after he left, I was sure that Sumire would shut down entirely,” Akane said, her voice barely above a whisper as to not disturb the two. “But she was so strong, able to get first place even without him. As a mother, I couldn’t be prouder of my Sumi.”

“But now that Akira’s back, things can finally go back to being normal,” Shinichi added on, a smile on his face as he got off the turnpike, around ten minutes away from Yongen-Jaya. The car was silent except for the light snores coming from the back of the car, Akane trying to suppress a giggle as Akira snorted.

Shinichi pulled up to the usual spot where he would drop off Sumire and he and Akane got out of the car, the two in the back still soundly asleep. Shinchi smiled at them before walking towards the door and lightly tapping on it.

“Hey sleepy-heads, time to get up!” Shinichi exclaimed, raising his voice so they could hear him within the car. 

“Mrm…?” Sumire muttered, slowly opening her eyes just as she realized her face was on Akira’s chest. Her cheeks turned rosy, but she didn’t try and move away, feeling Akira’s heartbeat through his chest and his warm breath put her at ease. However, she jumped as her father lightly tapped on the window of the car again, quickly turning around to see her parents peering in and smiling at them.

“Huh…? What time is it?” Akira groggily asked as he also woke up, rubbing his eyes before looking over at Sumire’s parents. “Oh, we’re here. We should get out, Sumire.”

“R-right!” Sumire stuttered, quickly turning her head back to Akira as she realized that her arms were still around his body and released him. Akira chuckled, pecking Sumire on the cheek before sliding out of the car. Sumire followed closely behind him, her cheeks still pink, but her heart was surprisingly calm as she climbed out of the car. Akira immediately reached for her hand as she stood next to him, Sumire gladly taking it with her parents continuing to smile at them. 

“You two should really get going; everyone is waiting for you!” Akane exclaimed, wrapping her arm around Shinichi’s as Sumire and Akira nodded at the same time.

“Thank you, Shinichi and Akane!” Akira wholeheartedly said, staring directly into both adults' eyes. The two stared at him for a second before nodding, taking a step forward and hugging them both for another group hug.

“We should be thanking you, Akira,” Shinichi softly uttered, tears forming in his eyes.

“You not only saved us all, but managed to come back to us again. Thank you, Akira,” Akane added on, gripping Sumire and Akira tighter. Then, as suddenly as the two adults pulled Akira and Sumire into a hug, they let go and made their way to the car. With a final wave goodbye, they left for their house, leaving Akira and Sumire alone. 

“We should get going, Sumire,” Akira said, turning around and began walking towards Leblanc. 

“Senpai, wait!” Sumire suddenly burst out, causing Akira to stop in his tracks and look back at her. “Don’t you think you should surprise them? I’ll walk in first, and then you walk in a minute after me!” Sumire was beaming up at Akira as she caught up to him.

“That sounds like a plan to me,” Akira chuckled as he and Sumire made their way to Leblanc. As they approached, Akira let go of Sumire’s hand and made his way into the laundromat nearby. “I’ll wait here, alright? You go in and see them,” Akira said, motioning for Sumire to continue. Taking a deep breath, Sumire continued walking along until she reached Leblanc’s door and saw the blurry figures of all her friends along with what she assumed were the Shadow Ops.

“Congratulations, Sumire!” they all shouted at once as Sumire entered the cafe. Sumire beamed at each one of them, scanning the room; none of them seemed to have changed at all. Just as she thought, the Shadow Ops members were there as well, sitting at the bar along with Sae while Sojiro was behind the bar. Sumire met Aigis and Minato’s eyes and smiled at them as she moved her attention back to her former teammates.

“Come on, Sumire! Take a seat!” Makoto called out, patting the spot right next to her. Sumire did just that as everyone kept their eyes on her.

“Sorry we couldn’t be there, Sumire-chan,” Haru apologized. “We wanted to go, but the trimester is about to end…”

“It’s already, Haru-senpai!” Sumire reassured the girl, giving her a big smile. “I had my family there, and I knew you all were thinking about me!”

“All of us, huh?” Yusuke muttered to himself, the inevitable crossing everyone’s minds as they all looked downwards, but Sumire held her head up high.

“I… I wish Akira could be here with us…” Ann’s voice barely reached everyone in the cafe, the Thieves nodding along with her.

“Hey, he wouldn’t want you guys to be so gloomy!” Sojiro lightly admonished the teens and cat, all of them looking towards him. “What would he say to you all if he saw you like this?” Just as Morgana was about to respond, the cafe door opened again.

“I’m sorry, but we’re closed for-” Sojiro began, turning his attention to the door before stopping. His heart felt as if it stopped as everyone else in the cafe stared in shock at the smiling face of Akira.

“I’d probably say cheer up, if you’re still wondering,” Akira said plainly. Minato grinned at him while the rest of the Shadow Ops smiled as the Thieves couldn’t move, all except Sumire, who was beaming at Akira. “So, are you guys just going to stare at me, or…”

“Akira!” the Thieves all shouted, rushing towards him and squeezing him in a group hug. Tears began running down everyone’s faces as they held him tight, the Shadow Ops members only smiled at the return of the Phantom Thief leader.

“Ho-how are you back?” Morgana asked incredulously, standing atop Ryuji’s shoulders.

“It’s because of Sumire,” Akira stated matter-of-factly, his friends all breaking from the hug to give Akira some space. 

“Are you… here to stay?” Sojiro hesitantly questioned, feebly wiping away his tears as more took their place.

“Of course I am!” Akira exclaimed, smiling as Sojiro stared at him in disbelief before bringing him in for another hug.

“You moron… you had me worried there for so long,” Sojiro muttered as he held Akira close.

“I’m sorry, Sojiro,” Akira responded, squeezing Sojiro back. Everyone stared as the two shared a moment together before Sojiro let go, his tears finally drying up as he quickly readjusted himself.

“Come on, let’s eat up! I made some damn good curry, so make sure to eat all of it! Today’s a special day!” Sojiro announced to a cheer from the Thieves, the Shadow Ops still smiling. As Sojiro and Sae plated up the food, the rest of the Thieves took their seats again with Akira and Sumire sitting across from Ann and Ryuji.

“This… doesn’t feel real,” Ann said, staring at Akira in disbelief.

“Well, it is real Ann,” Akira reassured her with a smile, to which Ann returned it.

“Wait, does that mean that we actually get to room together?” Ryuji suddenly asked, hope in his eyes before another realization crossed his face. “Wait, we still have exams coming up… Are you planning on taking them, Akira?”

“I mean, I still want to go to college, so I think I will still take them,” Akira responded.

“But Akira, you’ve been gone for the entire trimester!” Makoto objected.

“I know, but I’m a quick learner,” Akira reassured the concerned group. “Also, I actually began looking ahead last trimester at the material for this one, so I know quite a bit already.” As Akira finished, Sojiro and Sae placed the curry in front of everyone with a tiny bowl for Morgana. Before they could dig in, Sojiro placed another plate in front of Akira and two more for Sumire, the three of them sharing a grin with each other before everyone shouted “Thank you for the meal!”

“This… this is delicious!” Mitsuru exclaimed, the Shadow Ops’ eyes wide open as they began to scarf down their food. Junpei began choking on a piece of meat, drinking some of his water before continuing on. Yukari shook her head slightly at Junpei before continuing eating.

Sojiro stared in approval as everyone ate up their respective curry, Akira and Sumire eating theirs faster than anyone there and quickly moving onto their other plates. In seemingly no time at all, everyone was done eating and fully satisfied. Akira let out a sigh as he sat back in his seat, everyone’s eyes turning to Minato as he got up and moved over to Akira.

“Akira, I want to thank you properly for not only saving me, but also destroying Erebus for good,” Minato said, the Shadow Ops looking on in shock as he held out his hand. He never acted this polite towards anyone, usually opting for a more nonchalant attitude. Akira grinned up at the fellow Universe Arcana holder and pushed himself up, staring him directly in the eyes as they locked hands. Surprisingly, time actually froze for both of them as they stared into each other’s eyes. However, they did not hear the normal female voice, but instead each other’s voices.

_“The Universe Arcana… The power to change the fate of the world… we have grown into it and made it our own… we have found the truth of the Universe!”_

Akira and Minato grinned at each other as time resumed, their bond set in the Universe Arcana strong. Everyone around them smiled at the two, Sumire and Aigis looking past their beloveds and looking at each other and nodding. They both knew that their lives had returned to normal, and now it was time to face reality with the one they held dearest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mwahaha! I fooled you all! Akira couldn't stay dead!  
> On a more serious note, thank you all for staying with me on this amazing journey; this fic has been my pride and joy, and has even led to other's taking inspiration. As a writer, I couldn't be happier with the response this has gotten. But don't worry, Akira and the gang will return in this universe, only without the ever looming threat of destruction to humanity, but another threat: college! That's right, the next fic will focus on Akira and Ryuji's first semester in college with all the wholesome goodness that I can fit in there! Sumire will obviously play a major part in the story as well as the other Thieves making appearances, but it will largely focus on those three(along with Morgana, of course). I hope this is a much more satisfying ending for you all, and I hope to see you in the next fic, "Your Purpose".


End file.
